Swankit's Destiny
by Marblefur of SmokeClan
Summary: Meet Swankit, neglected, hated, despised- all because of her sister's mistake. The mistake that got herself killed. Fuzzykit and Redkit gone, and Marblekit terrified of her own shadow, Swankit trains alone, constantly being bullied and hurt by her old friends, Brackenkit and Branchkit. Rated T for Warriors
1. Chapter 1

**HEY PEOPLE! This is my first story and I hope you like it! :D**

 **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! THANKS!**

Chapter 1:

"Hey, Swankit." A squeaky voice whispered. The snow white she-kit sat up, blinking confusedly. "Huh?" She looked around. "Shh! Be _quiet_! We don't want any cat to know we are awake! Come on," the first voice hissed. Swankit obeyed, carefully standing and padding silently out of the warm den.

Swankit was greeted by 4 other kits: a red tabby she-kit, another white she-kit not unlike herself, and two dark brown tabby toms, the spitting image of each other. "Hurry up. We're sneaking out through the dirtplace. Oh, watch out for Jaystep, he's guarding camp tonight with Birchsight." The first kit mewed, nudging her towards the small tunnel.

The 6 kits slipped through into the dirtplace. "Where are we going, Marblekit?" Swankit asked quietly. One of the dark brown tabbies answered her. "To the stream by the border. I heard Blackwing and Sami talking about MistClan invading SmokeClan territory! We're going to find proof." Swankit blinked. "Who's idea was that?" The tom-kit looked over his shoulder at her. "Mine!" he announced proudly.

Swankit twitched an ear uncertainly. "Brackenkit," she began, but the red she-kit interrupted her. "Watch out!" she hissed. "MistClan patrol!" _Probably coming to steal prey!_ Swankit thought angrily. Sure enough, the 3 MistClan cats leaped from rock to rock, crossing the stream easily and keeping low, jaws open for scents of rabbits or mice.

"Oof!" Marblekit suddenly gasped, jerking her paw away from where she had set it. "I stepped on a thorn. Sorry," she whispered, ducking down out of sight from the intruders. "They see us!" Swankit closed her eyes, praying in her mind to StarClan. _Please let me survive! It wasn't my idea! Please let Marblekit, Brackenkit, Branchkit, Redkit and Fuzzykit be okay!_

"What do we have here? A couple of lost kits," a snarl erupted beside the kits and they all jumped. "H-hey! You're- you're on S-SmokeClan's territory! G-get away from us!" Marblekit attempted to defend her terrified denmates. The cat, a dark grey tabby tom with ambitious amber eyes, curled his lip and showed his sharp fangs. "Aw," he sneered. "Look at the little kit, being all brave! Come on," with that, the tom beckoned his accomplices forward and they each grabbed 2 kits.

Marblekit, being carried by the grey tom along with Redkit, threw Swankit and horrified glance. Her eyes almost seemed to say, _This is all my fault. I'm so sorry!_ Swankit blinked. _It's okay._

As the kits approached the MistClan camps, the sun was slowly rising up over the moor. "I'm hungry," Swankit whined miserably, the tom holding her merely grunting. Swankit flattened her ears. _Stupid MistClan! Stealing kits off of our own territory- just wait until their leader hears_ our _side of the story!_

Cats began pouring out of their dens, staring at the newcomers in bewilderment. "What is this, Darkear?" A large black and white tom demanded, bounding up to them. The grey tom dropped Redkit and Marblekit, being everything but gentle, and turned to face him.

"Badgerstar! Ravenflight, Rabbitear and I found these kits lost on MistClan territory, beside the stream. We assumed they are from SmokeClan." Darkear reported to the leader. Swankit glared at him. "No! That's not what happened at all!" Marblekit began to protest, but Darkear interrupted her. "Kit, where do you come from?" he asked.

Redkit stood. "Proudly, we are all from SmokeClan! Badgerstar," she went on, turning to the black and white tom. "Darkear, Ravenflight and Rabbitear were trespassing on SmokeClan territory!"

Badgerstar looked startled. "Oh? Did they, now?" He towered over the trembling kits. "And what were you 6 doing out of your camp so late?" Brackenkit met his gaze evenly. "Well, Badgerstar, we were sneaking out. I'm sure you've heard of kits doing it before," he replied, not breaking eye contact with the MistClan leader. Swankit thought she saw a glint of something- amusement? - in Badgerstar's eyes before he blinked.

"Take them to the nursery. Maybe we can use this… surprise, to get something from SmokeClan. Possibly that strip of land past the stream," Badgerstar mewed coolly and thoughtfully.

"Um," Swankit cut in meekly. "C-can we please have some food? We haven't eaten, and…" she trailed off. Badgerstar smiled, "Sure. Darkear, get them some prey." The kits were transported into a small, cozy den containing a few large nests and 2 she-cats. One was a silvery-grey tabby with warm, sleepy blue eyes. The other was a red and white splotched queen with kind green eyes. "Go introduce yourselves to Silverfeather over there." The warrior, Ravenflight, nudged them in the direction of the plump queen. "H-hi," Redkit mewed quietly.

Silverfeather blinked. "Hi, kits," she purred. "Who might you be?" _Well, since you asked so nicely…_ "I-I'm Swankit, and I'm 2 moons old!" she announced semi-confidently, glancing around the circle of ktis. "I'm Redkit, and I'm Swankit's sister!" "I'm Fuzzykit, and I'm also Swankit and Redkit's sister!" "I'm Brackenkit, and I am almost 3 moons old!" "Branchkit, Brackenkit's brother." "Marblekit, Brackenkit and Branchkit's sister."

By the time the denmates were finished, the queen was smiling warmly and swishing her plumy tail back and forth. Her ear twitched. "Darkear? Is that you? Stop creeping around by the entrance and come in here!" Silverfeather called out. A dark grey striped head poked inside. "Alright," he grumbled. "I brought the kit's prey." He tossed a scrawny mouse and an equally skinny rabbit on the ground in front of them, delicately setting down a plump sparrow beside Silverfeather. She smiled at him happily and took a small bite out of it.

The kits exchanged glances but eagerly dug into the small amount of prey, sitting with their backs together in a straight line to face the queen. She blinked at them apologetically before taking another mouthful and casually pushing the remains of the sparrow towards them, as they had finished the mouse and the rabbit and were gazing at the entrance longingly.

"Thank you," Redkit dipped her head politely and mewed quietly.

 ***END OF CHAPTER 1- OMG 1022 WORDS! Hope u like it and advice is appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey again! I hope you enjoy the story and just so you know, I plan on making it** _ **pretty**_ **long. I don't know how many chapters, but** _ **maybe**_ **more than, like, 20. At least. I mean, it's Christmas break and I have a lot of time on my hands… Anyways,**

 **ONWARDS TO CHAPTER 2!**

 **-** _ **Marble out**_

Chapter 2:

A rustling awoke Swankit. She raised her head, squinting. "Shh! I bet you'll wake all of MistClan with how loud you're being!" a familiar voice hissed nearby. "Redkit?" Swankit whispered, peering into the darkness.

She heard her sister curse under her breath. "What is it?" Redkit asked, sounding somewhat irritated. "W-where are you going?" The red she-kit sighed. Gesturing for her sister to follow, Redkit slipped out of the exit and sat on the cold ground. "Me and Fuzzykit are sneaking out. We would have invited you, but we wanted to go to SmokeClan to get help instead! You should go back to sleep." Swankit frowned. "But," she protested meekly, "I want to come with…"

Redkit shook her head. "No! With all of us sneaking around- especially with Fuzzykit's stomping! - some cat would surely notice us!" her sister threw a pointed glance at their littermate.

"Okay… But please be careful! I don't want you to get hurt…" Swankit mewed, a plan forming in her mind. _I am going with them, and no cat can stop me!_ She promised inwardly.

Swankit padded into the den that the 6 kits were confined to, finding her way to their nest and curling up in a ball next to Marblekit. She lay in silence, waiting until enough time had passed. Standing up, she slid out of the entrance and into the dark night air. Creeping over to what seemed to be the dirtplace, she prayed MistClan had no cats guarding the camp. Fortunately, no familiar scent reached her open jaws.

Swankit snuck through the small opening and nosed at the walls of the enclosed area. _Yes! An opening…_ She pushed through the hole and blinked. Where now?

Scanning the moorland, Swankit caught the scent of her sisters. _They went this way!_ Confidently she padded out to follow her sisters scent, beginning to run until she felt she was gaining on them.

Finally, she saw two shapes moving swiftly and quietly ahead of her. "Redkit!" she called, keeping her voice low. The she-kit spun around. "Swankit! What are you doing here? I thought I thought you to go back to sleep," she growled, flattening her white-tipped ears. "Yeah, but, I didn't want you guys to get hurt, so I followed your scent!" Swankit announced proudly.

Redkit narrowed her eyes. "Fine," she muttered. "You can come with, I guess."

 _Yes!_ Swankit ran to catch up with them as they began to walk again. "See that over there?" Redkit suddenly asked after they had walked for what seemed to be moons. "That's the weird tree we passed when the Darkear was taking us to the camp. We're getting closer!" Swankit waved her tail happily, trotting alongside her littermates as they trekked across the bare moor.

A strange, horrid scent struck Swankit. "Ew! What is that?" she complained, stopping to glance around them. Redkit and Fuzzykit had frozen, staring at something in the distance. A lone, russet furred creature glared at them with slitted eyes, letting out low snarls.

"F-f-fox!" Redkit shrieked, her paws seemingly stuck to the ground. " _Run_!" Swankit yowled, shoving her sister in an attempt to make her move. "Redkit! You need to run!" she repeated, glancing worriedly at Fuzzykit, who was stiff beside her. "Go!" she wailed, pawing at her littermates. The fox had approached slowly, seeing that the kits weren't taking off anytime soon.

Swankit bolted, looking over her shoulder in despair as the vicious animal leaped on Redkit, tearing at her fur and growling as she wailed in pain. "Redkit! No!" she heard a terrified yowl from behind her, whipping around to see a tiny white shape flying across the ground. Marblekit!

The little white kit barreled into the fox, spitting and hissing in rage. The fox rounded on her, eyes wild. Marblekit scratched at it with her tiny claws, losing her confidence quickly. Swankit's heart stopped as she recognized Fuzzykit and Redkit's bodies lying on the ground, scarred and bloody.

The screeching of other cats began as they pelted in and pushed Marblekit away, taking on the the huge creature. Marblekit padded up to the bodies silently, eyes blazing with both sadness and anger.

She turned her eyes on Swankit, who had fallen on the ground and was wheezing. "N-no… R-Redkit.. Fuzzykit… No… No!" she choked, gulping in all the air she possibly could.

A cat broke away from the fighting to look at her with wide eyes. "Mouseleap!" he yowled, running over to get the medicine cat.

"She needs help!" A wiry brown and grey she-cat came up to her, worry sparking in her green eyes. "It's okay… You'll be okay…" she whispered before pawing some herbs out of her small stock and giving some to the kit.

 _I don't want to be okay…_ Swankit thought.

"She's waking up!" a voice called, close to Swankit. She opened her eyes, surprised to see the SmokeClan medicine cat staring down at her. "W-where am I?" she asked, trying to stand up.

The tom nudged her down, "You need to rest," Wavefur told her softly. "Oh… Okay. What- what happened to me? I- I thought me and the other kits got caught by MistClan…" her eyes widened. "Where are Redkit and Fuzzykit? And Marblekit? Where are they? Are they okay? Tell me!" she demanded, desperate to know her littermates and friends were alive and safe.

Wavefur's face hardened. "Redkit and Fuzzykit are dead." he hissed, suddenly sounding hateful towards Swankit. "And Marblekit is.. fine- she's got plenty of injuries, but not deadly. She'll live." Swankit was shaking. "B-but..."

The blue tom frowned. "But _what_?! You murdered your siblings! Marblekit told us everything- we know it was your idea that got them killed!" he snarled, taking a menacing step forward.

"No! It- was their idea! I just… I followed them… Didn't want them to be hurt…" her voice rose to a wail as she tried to defend herself. "I- I…" Wavefur turned and stalked out of the den, leaving Swankit to cry alone, wheezing.

 **WHEW! That took a while. Anyways, wanted to say that I will be uploading a chapter maybe every few days, sometimes daily. Also, if you want me to do allegiances, please tell me in a review! (I probably will next chapter anyway :3)**

 **MARBLE, OUT!**


	3. ALLEGIANCES

**HA, you thought this was a chapter! Nope, it's the allegiances cuz I'm too lazy right now to write a whole chapter**

 **So yeah (For now, I'm only listing the characters mentioned)**

 **SMOKECLAN:**

 **LEADER: Tanstar- Large, tan-furred tom, amber eyes**

 **DEPUTY: Dewdrop- Blue-gray tom with green eyes**

 **MED. CAT: Wavefur- Small blue tom with amber eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Wolfpaw**

 **WARRIORS;**

 **Blackwing- Huge jet-black tom with amber eyes**

 **(mhmm, only one warrior mentioned so far xD)**

 **QUEENS:**

 **Sami- Long furred tortoiseshel she-cat with kind green eyes (Adopted kits: Marblekit, Brackenkit, Branchkit)**

 **KITS:**

 **Brackenkit- Dark brown tabby tom with piercing green eyes**

 **Branchkit- Spitting image of Brackenkit**

 **Marblekit- White fluffy she-kit with blue-green eyes**

 **Redkit- Reddish tabby she-kit with blue eyes**

 **Fluffykit- Small white she-kit with amber eyes**

 **Swankit- Tiny snow white she-kit with silver streaks, blue and green eyes**

 **MISTCLAN:**

 **LEADER: Badgerstar - Black and white tom**

 **DEPUTY: Darkear- Dark grey tom with fierce amber eyes**

 **MED. CAT: Mouseleap- Dusky brown and grey she-cat**

 **Even though the other Clans weren't mentioned yet…**

 **ICECLAN:**

 **LEADER: Brightstar**

 **DEPUTY: Brownfoot**

 **MED. CAT: Frozenheart**

 **APPRENTICE, Bluepaw**

 **SUNCLAN:**

 **LEADER: Skystar**

 **DEPUTY: Clearflame**

 **MED. CAT: Firestone**

 **APPRENTICE, Blazepaw**

 **HAPPY READING! Next chapter will be soooonnn! :D**

 **R & R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**HAI! Yes, if you read the allegiances and noticed this: I do realize that I forgot Rabbitear, Ravenflight and Silverfeather for MistClan (I believe)**

 _ **~Marble OUT!**_

Chapter 3: (Yes I know it's really the fourth but since the last one was the allegiances…)

"Get up," a cat growled beside Swankit. "Go away…" she mumbled, still half asleep.

Sharp claws connected with her side. "Hey! That hurt!" Swankit protested, sitting up and glaring at the cat in front of her- Brackenkit. Swankit looked away. "What do you want?" she asked, staring at the wall.

"Come outside," he told her. "me and Brackenkit want to show you something." _Oh, great. Yet another chance to make fun of me, or make me look stupid in front of the Clan._ Swankit sighed. "Fine," she muttered under her breath, following the tom as he led her into the clearing and to a corner of the camp where a large oak branch created a small hideaway.

 _This will be fun…_ "We wanted to show you this... " Branchkit mewed, waving his tail towards a small stream running through the area. "What? A stream?" she snapped, narrowing her eyes. _What was the point of showing me_ this _? I could be sleeping right now!_ The two brothers looked startled. "Come over and look at it. See, there's _fish_ in it!" Swankit, her interest sparked, padded over curiously to peer into the shallow water. As she was about to pull away, annoyed, to say there was nothing in there, her head was suddenly shoved into the water.

Swankit struggled under her captor. She tried to breathe in, but instead got mouthfuls of water. _Help…_ Black spots dotted her vision. _No…!_ The weight was lifted off of her. Swankit attempted to raise her head to get air, but she was dizzy and fell back into the water. Some cat grabbed her scruff and heaved her up, glaring at the two toms accusingly.

"What happened?" Brackenkit gasped innocently, bounding over to them. "W-Wolfpaw?" Swankit sputtered, coughing up water. "Did she fall in?" Branchkit asked. Swankit threw a deadly glare at him. "Sure, _that's_ what happened," she rasped, standing up. She turned to the medicine cat apprentice, so far the only cat who hadn't blamed her for Redkit and Fuzzykit's deaths.

"Come with me," he mewed sympathetically. As they walked, he leaned closer to whisper in her ear, "I know it was their fault. You aren't stupid enough to drown in that water." Swankit blinked. _Wow. There's one cat on my side. Maybe._

Swankit padded beside Wolfpaw in silence to the medicine cat den, flopping into one of the already made nests to breathe. "Wolfpaw, why have you brought this… thing in here?" Wavefur hissed. Wolfpaw stood and dipped his head. "Wavefur," he began. "Those two tom-kits, Brackenkit and Branchkit or whatever, Marblekit's brothers, held poor Swankit here under the water. _Luckily_ , I was there to pull her out before she… you get it." Wavefur rolled his eyes. "Mmhmm. Brackenkit and Branchkit are not that terrible! I bet Swankit just gave up and decided to try and kill herself! Oh, and if she was, you should have let her! No cat in this Clan even likes 'poor' _Stupidkit_ anyway!" Swankit felt her rage build. Against Marblekit, Brackenkit, Branchkit, Wavefur… Any cat that had ever harmed her. She wanted revenge.

"What did I ever do to you? Why do you hate me?" she snarled, spinning around and pelting out of the den, heading for the camp entrance. Wolfpaw chased after her quickly.

The apprentice kept running after her, following her into the forest and to a small puddle. She sat down, panting, and looked into the water. The white she-kit examined her reflection. "What's wrong with me?" she whimpered.

 _Nothing is wrong with you, dear Swankit,_ a voice drawled in her head. _It's simple: you want revenge. You_ need _it._ Swankit frowned.

 _No! No- I don't want or need revenge! I just- I'm so mad at them! They ruined my life. D-do you understand?_ There was a pause before the voice answered.

 _Yes. I understand. And we are going to make_ them _understand, too._

Wolfpaw was sitting beside her. Swankit glanced up from her reflection and sighed. "Why did you follow me?" she asked. The grey apprentice turned his head towards her. "Because, Swankit. The rest of the Clan doesn't see how smart you are. How much potential you have. You're going to be a great warrior," he mewed, a faraway look in his eyes. "No; there's something wrong, isn't there? Is there a prophecy about me or something?" The tom sat up straighter. "No. There is no prophecy, Swankit. And if there was, I couldn't tell you. You're just a kit."

The she-kit stared after him as he stood and slowly padded away. "B-but… wait! I- I don't know where to go…" She bounded after his trail, hoping she could find her way back. Swankit stopped suddenly. _Why should I go back? It would be so easy to just run away…_ The voice replied almost instantly.

 _No! You have to go back to the Clan. No matter what any cat says, Swankit, the Clans need you._

 **:3 Sorry I didn't upload this earlier but I had to go somewhere… But there you have it… Also, I will try and finish another chapter today/tomorrow.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hai :D I'll try to maybe make this chapter longer than the last one, which was, like, 891 words or something… (I'll** _ **try**_ **)**

 _ **Marble OUT**_

Chapter 4:

Swankit kept her head down as she slunk into the camp slowly. "Look," she heard whispers. "She actually came back." She turned around, opening her jaws to defend herself, but some cat beat her to it. "Oh, shut up, Moonwhisker. Don't you have better things to do than insult kits all day? Don't you have some hunting patrol you need to go on?" Swankit instantly recognized the snappy voice.

Wolfpaw, of course. The only cat who would stand up for her, who didn't treat her like she was nothing. Swankit sniffed and headed for the nursery, only to walk into a wall of fur. "Oof!" she gasped as the cat shoved her roughly, bounding away and laughing loudly.

Swankit ran into the cozy nursery, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. "Swankit?" she heard a quiet call in the back of the den. "What?" she responded, stalking over to her nest and laying down stiffly. "Can you please get me and the kits some fresh-kill?" Mapleleaf.

Pretty much her adoptive mother; ever since Redkit and Fuzzykit had died, her mother had ignored her. She even had to sleep in her own nest, and, although Swankit was only 4 ½ moons old, Pebbletail had moved back into the warriors den.

"Okay," she mumbled, bounding back outside to the small pile of fresh-kill. Some apprentices had gathered around it, so Swankit ducked into the bushes and waited. "Wait, do you smell that?" She heard one ask. "Yeah! Hey, isn't that… _Stupidkit_?" _Stupidkit yourself!_

A couple of seconds later, one peered into her hiding place. She shrunk against the camp wall. "What are you doing?" they laughed, grabbing Swankit and pulling her out. "Leave me alone!" she growled, baring her teeth.

"Make us," another taunted, batting at her ears with their claws unsheathed. "I will," she hissed, leaping up from under their grasp and pressing her belly to the ground. Her whiskers twitched with fear and excitement. "Oh, really?"

A bright ginger tom with white paws darted forward and attempted to pin her down, but she jumped to the side and he toppled onto the ground. Stalking away, she flattened her ears and narrowed her eyes menacingly. "Stay away from me," she warned, letting out another hiss and walking quickly to the nursery.

"No prey?" Mapleleaf asked, cocking her head slightly. Oops. "There was a bunch of apprentices and they wouldn't let me get to it," she muttered, keeping her head down. "Sorry." The pretty brown she-cat smiled. "It's okay. That was Foxpaw, Bearpaw and their… group, wasn't it?"

"Yes." She twitched an ear. The queen sighed. "Did you know that Wolfpaw is their brother?" Swankit looked up sharply. "What?" _Wolfpaw? Related… to_ them _?_ "But Wolfpaw is so nice! And- and they… aren't." Mapleleaf chuckled. "Yes," she mewed. "I'll ask a warrior to get them in here. Don't worry, I'll make sure they learn a lesson, okay?"

Swankit blinked. "Okay… but, please don't tell them it was me…"

* * *

(ONE AND A HALF MOONS LATER...)

"Swankit, you have reached the age of 6 moons, and it is time for you to become an apprentice. From this day on, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Swanpaw. Your mentor will be Nightgaze." Tanstar turned to the jet-black tom. "Nightgaze, you are ready for your first apprentice. I hope you will do well to teach her all that you know." Swanpaw stepped forward and awkwardly licked Tanstar's shoulder as he rested his chin on her head for a moment.

 _Well, he sounded awfully bored. Poor thing._ Swankit thought with a grin as she trotted over to meet with her mentor. "Hi," she mewed, struggling to stay enthusiastic. _They didn't even cheer for me…_

The tom grunted in acknowledgement. "What do you want?" he asked, staring at her. "I'm showing you the territory tomorrow- not that it will do any good. You'll probably be killed your first battle," Nightgaze rolled his eyes.

Swanpaw blinked. "Oh…" _Wow. Faithful much._ Cats were retreating into their dens to go to sleep, when the last hunting patrol returned. "Tanstar! MistClan- border! Attacking! Send help!"

Pebbletail panted, gasping for breath. Surely not even MistClan would start a battle so soon before leaf-bare? "Alright! Dewdrop, Blackwing, Moonwhisker, Nightgaze, Whitecloud, Sunblaze, Skyfur, Redleaf, Bearpaw and Foxpaw will go with me. We aren't taking any chances with MistClan," Tanstar narrowed his eyes. "I want the elders to the nursery and it better be well-guarded."

All of the cats named were led out of the camp by the large tom, the remaining warriors and apprentices spreading out to guard the entrance and the nursery. A frail, dusty tom was still being guided into the heavily protected den when they heard the yowls of the battle begin. Swanpaw closed her eyes, pressing her back against the inside of the nursery.

She, Pebbletail and Sami were standing inside of the den to attack any cats who tried to force their way in. "Are all the kits with you, Mapleleaf?" Swanpaw asked suddenly. "I have Mothkit, Duskkit, and… Where's Fallenkit? And Featherkit?" Mapleleaf began frantically searching around the nursery, looking in and under all of the nests.

"I'll go look for them!" Swanpaw meowed, running out into the clearing. The wind had picked up now, and with it carried lots of different scents. "Featherkit! Fallenkit! Where are you?" she began calling, opening her jaws to taste the air. _What if they tried following the battle patrol?_ The thought struck her like lightning. "Fallenkit! Featherkit!" Swanpaw pelted out of camp and searched for at least one of the kits' scents.

"Fallenkit," she breathed as she recognized the tom's smell. "Help!" she heard a faraway wail. She instantly ran towards the voice and froze at what she saw. Darkear. Standing over him.

Fallenkit.

 **Welp. Poor kit ;-; Please R & R if you're enjoying the story so far! :3**

 _ **~Marble OUT**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry I haven't updated yet but I was busy… I also wrote another story(about Darkear), so that took up a bit of my time. =) Anyways, here it is!**

 **~Marble OUT**

Chapter 4:

"Swanpaw!" Fallenkit squeaked. "Help!" The little tom-kit struggled under his captor. "Let him go, Darkear!" Swanpaw growled, unsheathing her claws. The MistClan deputy looked at her. "Oh, but why would I do that? This is so much… _fun_ …" he drawled, gazing down at the kit.

 _Wait. Where's Featherkit?_ Swanpaw thought as she glared at the dark grey tom. "Just let him go!" she mewed, her voice rising embarrassingly. _I can't beg!_ "My Clan is looking for him, and once they find us, they will kill you!" she warned, hoping he would believe her. But the look on his face was amused, disbelieving.

"Oh really? I doubt they would do that; it would be risking the life of poor Fallenkit here. You wouldn't want that, now would you, _Swankit_?" he responded teasingly. Swanpaw stared at him. "You see, little one," he went on. "I have a plan. Unless my brother has an accident and loses his last few lives, I won't become leader for a long long time. But, by the time he loses his ninth life, I will be too old to be a leader anyways. That just won't work. I'm not telling you my plan, just that I have one... You can guess, if you want, but you'll never get it right."

Swanpaw gaped. Darkear and Badgerstar were _brothers_? As she was wondering what his plan was, she didn't notice a shape slinking along past her and standing beside Darkear. _I remember him! He was there when… Rabbitear!_

"Recognize me?" he sneered. Swanpaw straightened her shoulders to make herself look bigger. "Of course," she answered snappily. Suddenly, her mind was filled with different voices and whispers. It seemed impossible to figure out what a single voice was saying, but she managed to separated one from the others.

 _Stupid Swanpaw. Darkear, too, if he doesn't kill the little one._ It sounded like Rabbitear… Swanpaw glanced around wildly. No cat had heard anything. "Swanpaw!" a cat shouted behind her. She half-turned, so that she could see both who the cat was and still keep an eye on Darkear and Rabbitear.

 _Marblepaw?_ The apprentice, still jumpy and terrified at the mention of a fox, trotted nervously up to stand beside Swanpaw. _I thought she hated me…_ The voices stirred again.

 _How can I find a way to tell Swanpaw that backup is coming without them hearing?_ some cat was thinking frantically. Swanpaw twitched an ear. "I know there's warriors coming," she whispered, her words barely anything more than a breath. Marblepaw stared at her before turning her head and watching the two MistClan cats.

"Don't even _think_ about harming that kit," the older she-cat growled, her voice wavering slightly. Darkear looked surprised. "Aw, don't worry. As long as MistClan gets a few favors from your precious SmokeClan... " Darkear promised darkly, exchanging an amused look with Rabbitear.

A rustling sounded just beside them. Familiar scents bathed her; the warriors had come!

The bushes parted to reveal Blackwing, Nightgaze and… Brackenpaw. One of the two cats that Swanpaw hated the most. He had a scornful expression on his face, but the brown tabby looked determined to get Fallenkit back.

"Where is Featherkit?" Swanpaw whispered to Nightgaze. "We found her near camp. She's with Mapleleaf now," he assured her, gazing at the two MistClan toms holding Fallenkit.

His eyes narrowed. "If you're not blind, you can see that we have you outnumbered," he hissed. "I would suggest that you hand over the kit." His angry yet calm voice sent shivers up Swanpaw's spine. She had never seen Nightgaze so angry.

"Fine," Darkear sighed dramatically. Swanpaw was shocked. "He's just going to give up that easily?" she murmured to no cat in particular. Blackwing glanced at her. "Impossible," the black tom muttered.

But the dark grey tom-cat simply released his grip on Fallenkit, staring at them with a blank face. The little tom-kit stood for a minute, looking up at Darkear uneasily. "Go," he urged him quietly, nudging him forward. Fallenkit quickly tottered over to the SmokeClan cats, Swanpaw wrapping her tail around him protectively. "Take him back to camp," Blackwing ordered her.

Swanpaw dipped her head and backed away, ushering Fallenkit along. When they reached the camp, the fighting was still going. Swanpaw grabbed Fallenkit in her jaws and padded behind the camp, slipping in the dirtplace and through the back entrance of the nursery.

"Fallenkit! Oh, Swanpaw! Thank you so, so so much!" Mapleleaf gasped, rushing to her feet and taking Fallenkit back to their nest. "You know you can't sneak out like that! You could have been badly hurt!" she began scolding him as Swanpaw turned and guarded the entrance outside.

A dusty brown tom kicked Moonwhisker away from him a few tail-lengths away and lumbered towards the nursery quickly. Swanpaw ducked in the leafy walls and waited until he was nosing his way through the doorway, then leaped out at him as he tried to push through. Although she had no battle training, instinct took over and she began clawing at his exposed belly.

The tom yowled and kicked her off, biting her ear as hard as he could and shoving her away. He tried forcing his way through the entrance again, but Swanpaw wasn't finished. Pebbletail pelted out and ran straight into him, stunning him and leaving him gasping for breath.

The silver queen hissed at him, disappearing back into the nursery. Swanpaw stood and hid in the leaves again. _No cat will be getting in here anytime soon!_

 **Hai there! Well, there's chapter… what is it? 5? 6? Whatever it is… There it is! I hoped you enjoyed and if you did, please tell me in a review!**

 _ **~Marble OUT!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Heyyyy! ~Whatever chapter this is, (6, 7, WHATEVER!) here it is! School is starting soon, so I won't be updating as often (as long as I have homework =/) but I will still try to at least every few days!**

 **~Marble out**

Chapter 6:

Swanpaw closed her eyes tighter and curled deeper into her soft nest. Since the battle, any cat that had respected her had turned around and gone back to making fun of her. Her nest lay secluded in a dark corner of the apprentices' den, and there was many holes above where she slept.

"Can you help me fix the holes in the apprentices' den?" she had asked many cats in the Clan. Most ignored her and pretended she hadn't spoken, but some sneered and spat out, "Why would we help _you_?" at her before spinning and stalking off.

Nightgaze decided to make her final assessment the night after the latest Gathering, when Skystar had announced the making of two new warriors in her Clan: Marshstep and Barkleap. That had only been Swanpaw's third Gathering, as she had missed the first two as an apprentice when Nightgaze had been injured.

But it seemed her mentor wanted her to become a warrior as soon as possible, only for the reason that he didn't like her and hated training her. Swanpaw was preparing to go out into the woods and show her skills to Nightgaze, and she was crouching beside the apprentices' den silently eating a mouse.

As she finished and licked her lips, licking her chest fur quickly, her mentor peered around the corner of the den. "Come on, we're going now. Tanstar wants to do your ceremony today," the black tom told her. Swanpaw nodded and padded after him as he brought her to the stretch of forest beside the IceClan border.

"You will not see me, but I will be watching your technique. Catch as much prey as you can and come back when you're done." As soon as Nightgaze was finished instructing her she was off, following the scent of a squirrel silently.

Swanpaw was so intent on tracking it that she accidentally snapped a small twig with her front paw, and hissed under her breath. She spotted the squirrel, it's head raised, eyes wide, looking around for danger.

After a moment of holding her breath and staying low, hoping the grey squirrel wouldn't see her, the small creature turned back to the leaves and began sorting through them again in search of a nut.

Swanpaw thanked StarClan in her mind and started after the prey again. Leaping forward, she nipped its spine and killed it quickly, holding it down with one paw. She glanced around, hoping Nightgaze had seen that, and buried it under the leaves and roots of a nearby tree.

The white apprentice padded quietly along, sniffing carefully until she found a prey scent.

She followed it slowly to a low bush and she peered into it. Inside was a small nest of mice, barely older than a few sunrises. Swanpaw purred and, after getting most of them, scooped them up and awkwardly carried them to the clearing where Nightgaze sat. He looked slightly out of breath and he was panting, nodding approvingly at her.

"Good catch," he praised. Swanpaw smiled. "I have more, can you carry some?" she asked, already heading away to get the rest. Nightgaze blinked and did so, leaning down to pick up the mice in his jaws.

Swanpaw retrieved the squirrel and took a mouse from Nightgaze. She padded alongside her mentor in silence, until they reached the camp. "I'll go tell Tanstar, you grab some fresh-kill before your ceremony." For once, Nightgaze didn't sound scornful or angry as he spoke to her. She dipped her silver streaked head and deposited her mouse on the pile, keeping the squirrel to eat for herself.

As she sat beside the apprentices' den again, she heard talking inside of it. Brackenpaw and Marblepaw. "I can't believe that _disappointment_ is becoming a warrior. At the same time as us, too! How could Tanstar do this to us?" the brown tom was talking. "Yeah, I know." Marblepaw's voice was quiet.

"Right? This sucks," Brackenpaw finished, saying goodbye and exiting the den.

 **Well, sorry this chapter was a bit short, but I am also updating the Allegiances today. If I miss any mentioned cats, feel free to correct me in a review. I know last time I did Allegiances I missed, like, 4 or 5 cats, so, I hope I don't this time.**

 **SMOKECLAN:**

 **LEADER: Tanstar- Large tan-furred tom with amber eyes**

 **DEPUTY: Dewdrop- Blue-gray tom with green eyes, white tail-tip**

 **MED. CAT: Wavefur- Larger blue tom with intimidating amber eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Wolfpaw**

 **WARRIORS:**

 **Nightgaze- Large black tom with white tail-tip**

 **APPRENTICE, Swanpaw**

 **Birchsight- Small, light brown tom with blue eyes**

 **Jaystep- Old grey tom, half blind in one (green) eye**

 **Blackwing- Large, jet-black tom with amber eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Brackenpaw**

 **Moonwhisker- Dark grey/black tom with deep blue eyes, Swanpaw's father**

 **Sunblaze- Ginger she-cat with fiery amber eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Branchpaw**

 **Whitecloud- White she-cat with grey and blue patches, blue-green eyes**

 **Skyfur- Blue she-cat with unusual silver/blue eyes, very quiet**

 **APPRENTICE, Marblepaw**

 **Redleaf- Red tabby she-cat with blue eyes**

 **Pebbletail- Silver-gray tabby she-cat with icy blue eyes**

 **Foxstep- Flaming orange tom with blue eyes**

 **Bearfur- Brown tom with one white forepaw and dark blue eyes**

 **QUEENS:**

 **Mapleleaf- light brown she-cat with soft blue-green eyes (Fallenkit, Featherkit, Duskkit, and Mothkit)**

 **Sami- Long furred brown, white, and orange tortoiseshell she-cat**

 **APPRENTICES:**

 **Swanpaw- White she-cat with silver streaks**

 **Brackenpaw- Dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes**

 **Branchpaw- Spitting image of Brackenpaw, splash of white on his chest**

 **Marblepaw- White she-cat with light blue eyes**

 **MISTCLAN:**

 **LEADER: Badgerstar- Huge black and white tom**

 **DEPUTY: Darkear- Dark grey tom with amber eyes**

 **MED. CAT: Mouseleap- Dusky brown and grey she-cat**

 **APPRENTICE, Spiderpaw**

 **ICECLAN:**

 **LEADER: Brightstar- White and grey she-cat with amber eyes**

 **DEPUTY: Brownfoot- Dark brown tom with blue eyes**

 **MED. CAT: Frozenheart- Light blue and white she-cat with blue eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Bluepaw**

 **SUNCLAN:**

 **LEADER: Skystar- Blue she-cat, icy blue and silver eyes**

 **DEPUTY: Clearflame- White tom with fiery green eyes**

 **MED. CAT: Blazefur- Orange tom with blue eyes**

 **Yay I'm finally finished! Anyways, 1000 something words! Please review if you are enjoying the story! (Sorry I didn't update earlier :/ I'll try to write the next chapter for tomorrow!)**

 **~Marble** _ **OUT!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey people! I'm finally back with… Swankit's Destiny! Been a while, kinda, I guess. I said I would get a chapter out soon, and here it is! Review if you are enjoying the story!**

Swanpaw beamed. Even if Tanstar didn't sound like he was very happy about making her a warrior, and neither was Nightgaze, she was still happy! Brackenpaw sneered at her as she stood, waiting for Tanstar to perform the ceremony.

But he simply asked, "Nightgaze, is Swanpaw ready to become a warrior?" The black tom nodded and shrugged. "I guess." Swanpaw frowned, then shook herself. _Stay happy! Don't let them make you feel bad!_

Swanpaw narrowed her eyes at Tanstar. _Ugh. I wish I didn't have to make this thing a warrior. She's a disgrace to SmokeClan. Maybe I should just exile her to make us all happy!_ The white she-cat gasped. _Did I just hear his thoughts?_

She focused on his words again as he spoke. "Swanpaw, you will now be known as Swanfeather." She smiled and dipped her head. Tanstar flicked his tail for her to walk away. _No it's fine, don't cheer for me!_ she thought angrily.

Swanfeather watched as Brackenpaw, Branchpaw, and Marblepaw got their warrior names: Brackenfoot, Branchpelt, and Marblefur. Swanfeather stood silently as the whole Clan cheered and yowled their names, some cats glaring at her.

"She doesn't deserve such a beautiful name." Swanfeather heard some cat mutter. The white she-cat looked around and found the source of the voice: Pebbletail. She smiled. Her mother said she thought her name was beautiful! Even if the silver-grey she-cat said that Swanfeather didn't deserve it, she still thought it was beautiful!

"Thank you," she whispered quietly.

Swanfeather padded to the warriors den to make her new nest. She pawed some moss from the tree the apprentices' got it from, then scraped it all together and lay down. Resting her head on her paws, she sighed and fell asleep.

"Wake up." Swanfeather blinked her sleepy eyes open and looked up at the cat who said it: Blackwing. "Your vigil? You have to guard the camp with Brackenfoot, Branchpelt and Marblefur. Get up and get something to eat," he told her gruffly, nodding and backing out of the warriors' den.

" _Silent_ vigil," Blackwing reminded her as he padded away. Swanfeather dipped her head and grabbed a small mouse from the fresh-kill pile before heading to the camp entrance to guard with the other new warriors.

"You and Marblefur are guarding first, then Brackenfoot and Branchpelt. But you still have to stay awake, and silent!" Tanstar called to her. Swanfeather blinked and sighed in relief. _Thank StarClan I'm with Marblefur and not Brackenfoot or Branchpelt!_

She sat and scanned the dark forest. _This is so boring,_ was her only thought throughout the whole night. By the time the sun was rising, Tanstar emerged from his den and nodded to them. Brackenfoot and Branchpelt were almost falling over, and her and Marblefur were standing behind them.

Swanfeather stood and shook out her fur. "You should go get some sleep," Tanstar advised them. The two brown toms eagerly did so, stumbling to the warriors' den and flopping down in their nests. But Swanfeather blinked as Marblefur walked away slowly. "I'm not tired," she protested. Tanstar narrowed his eyes at her. "Did you fall asleep when you were guarding?" he demanded, taking a step closer. Swanfeather shook her head. "No! Even ask Marblefur, I didn't!" Tanstar snorted. "Sure. If you're not tired, you can either join a border patrol or go hunting." Swanfeather sighed. "Fine, I'll go hunting." Tanstar dipped his head to her and she turned around to leave.

"Wait! Take Moonwhisker. The more prey you bring back at once the better," Tanstar called and beckoned her father forwards. Swanfeather widened her eyes. _Moonwhisker? Why him? He hates me the most!_ The black tom flicked his tail and padded out of camp with her. They walked in silence towards the small river running through their territory.

"Want to try catching fish?" Moonwhisker suggested. To Swanfeather's surprise, he sounded passive and happy. "You think there's gonna be _fish_ in there?" she retorted. Moonwhisker sighed. "Have some faith, my dear daughter," he purred. Swanfeather faltered. "I thought you had no daughter," she responded, her voice cold and harsh.

Moonwhisker frowned and stepped forward. "Come on, let's at least try," he insisted. Swanfeather shook her head. "Fine. But don't get _me_ in trouble when we go back to camp with no fresh-kill."

Her father grinned and stared down into the river, making sure his shadow didn't fall onto the water. Swanfeather copied him and raised her paw, waiting for a fish to appear. Nothing. She sat in silence and boredom, throwing a glance at Moonwhisker.

She twitched an ear and stared down at her paws. Swanfeather sensed movement and turned, but Moonwhisker was gone. His scent lingered strongly, but he wasn't beside her. She spun around and saw the black tom standing still, his claws unsheathed. His paw was a few inches from her face now. Swanfeather gasped. "Now, now. I'm doing this to make the Clan happy. Isn't that what you want?" Her father's voice was cold and thick with hatred.

Swanfeather felt herself shaking in fear. "You won't kill me," she snarled. "Tanstar will exile you, and you'll never see the Clan again!" She knew her threats meant nothing to her father. She was going to die.

"It's your fault my kits died. And now," he growled. "I'll get my revenge."

 __ **Sorry for the kinda short chapter but I don't have a lot of time right now to write it ;-; I would make it longer if I could!**

 **~Marble OUT**


	9. Chapter 9

**Haiiii guys! Back with another chapter! I'll try to make this one longer than the last but that will probably never happen… Anyways**

 _ **~Marble OUT**_

Swanfeather stared at her father. "You won't kill me," she repeated, her voice shaking. Moonwhisker tilted his head. "Is that right?" He asked, sheathing and unsheathing his claws. The tom's tail swept across the ground.

Swanfeather steadied her breathing. "Yes," she mewed, sounding more confident. "Redkit and Fuzzykit's deaths weren't my fault. I don't care if you think they were," she went on, grinning inwardly as she saw Moonwhisker's eyes change slightly. "Want me to explain everything that happened before and when they died?"

"Why not," was her father's response. "Okay! Here we go," she began, sitting down calmly. "I woke up in the MistClan camp at night. I heard some voices nearby and sat up. Redkit and Fuzzykit- they were sneaking out. So, I asked to go with but of course Redkit told me to go back to sleep. I waited for a bit and then followed them. I caught up to them and after telling me I should have stayed behind, we kept going. We had almost reached the border when suddenly a fox appeared. I tried to make Redkit and Fuzzykit move, but they seemed stuck to the ground. While they were frozen, I started running out of fear. After Marblekit showed up and ran at the fox, the MistClan warriors came and chased it off. Or killed it, I don't know. But it _was not my fault_ ," after she finished, she got up and stood right in front of Moonwhisker.

"So if you want to kill me," she growled. "go ahead. Just know that if you do- you're the murderer, not me." Her father's eyes widened and he blinked slowly. "O-okay. I will… leave you be. Tanstar will still find a way to either get rid of you, or make you suffer. But there's nothing that you can tell him to make that stubborn leader believe you," Moonwhisker told her, turning and padding away towards camp.

Swanfeather sighed. _Does he believe me now? Was it really that easy?_ She shook her head. _It can't be. Something's up, I know it._ She headed downstream, hoping to find some prey before returning.

The sun had slowly went down and Swanfeather decided she had enough fresh-kill to go back to camp. As she went to collect her prey, she caught an odd scent. _That smells like SunClan! But why would their scent be in the middle of our territory?_ The white she-cat followed the trail carefully, setting her paws down lightly in case they were close.

After a while, she heard loud wails. _Is that a kit?_ she thought, alarmed. Swanfeather ran towards the wailing, slowly to a stop near a large bush. Peering through it, she almost gasped out loud. On the other side sat a small kit, it's tiny jaws wide open.

The poor thing was huddled on the ground, trying to block out the wind. Swanfeather glanced around and sniffed the air for other scents, but the only one was the kits'. So, she padded cautiously to it and bent down. "Quiet, little one," she murmured, picking it up gently.

It whimpered and stop yowling, looking around wildly. Swanfeather quickly headed back to the rest of the Clan, nosing her way through the entrance and trying to keep the kit away from the sharp brambles poking out.

"Swanfeather?" Tanstar called out, sounding surprised. She set her down lightly. "I found this kit in the middle of the territory, near the river. She was alone," Swanfeather explained to him as she nudged the kit closer towards her for warmth.

"Take it to the nursery," he ordered her. She dipped her head, carrying it in her jaws to the cozy den. "Mapleleaf?" she called inside. "Yes?" came the response of the old queen. She had no kits, but decided to stay a queen instead of returning to warrior duties. "I found this kit in the forest. Can you tell Whitecloud?" Swanfeather told her, setting down the white and black she-kit.

As Mapleleaf went to get the new queen, Swanfeather observed the kit. She was pure white, with unusual black tabby stripes. Her tail was long and fluffy, and her ears were tipped with black.

Swanfeather felt an odd connection with her. Whitecloud and Mapleleaf entered the nursery behind her, Mapleleaf explaining to the white and blue queen about the kit. "Since you are the only nursing queen as of now, we will need you to feed the kit until she is old enough to eat prey," the brown she-cat was saying, leading Whitecloud to Swanfeather and the kit.

"Well, she's going to need a name," Whitecloud mewed thoughtfully. Swanfeather glanced at her suddenly. "Wait," she interrupted. "Since I found her, I wish to choose her name." Whitecloud shrugged. "Go ahead." Swanfeather looked back at the small she-kit. "Her name will be…"

 **Ooh, cliffhanger :3 If you have suggestions for the kit's name, please tell me in a review! I don't have one decided yet, but if you have any ideas tell me!**

 _ **~Marble OUT**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Yayayayayay chapter 10! Sadly I am sick and I feel like I'm dying (I'm not actually dying lol), but that means that I have more time to write the chapters! I hope you enjoy and please review if you like the story!**

 **drsgon eclipse: Thanks for reviewing and for the names but a friend and I have decided it :/ But still thanks for reading and reviewing! =)**

 **~Marble OUT**

"Her name will be…" Just as Swanfeather was about to announce it, a gray tom padded in. "Swanfeather, I heard you found this kit and Wavefur wants me to check up on it." She stared at him and tried to remember the last time they had spoken. It was right after the battle, and all he said was, "Good luck for your assessment!"

That was when they were both apprentices. Now, Wolf _pool_ was a full medicine cat. Swanfeather blinked and shook her head, turning to the kit again. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead," she mewed quietly, backing up to give him room.

The gray tom checked over the she-kit, examining her ears and paws, and listening to her breathing. He finished and stepped away. "She's good. Come and get me when her eyes are open, I'll need to look at them." Swanfeather nodded and watched Wolfpool as he left the den.

"Now," she started again, only to be interrupted by a yowl. "Birchsight!" She heard gasps coming from the elders' den. Running out, she had to stop abruptly so she didn't run into a smaller cat.

"Blackkit!" she sighed. "Go back to the nursery and go see Whitecloud, okay?" Making sure the small kit was safely in the den, she headed towards the crowd gathered at the corner of camp. "What happened?" she whispered to Sami. The tortoiseshell she-cat was gazing sadly at the elders' den.

"Birchsight passed away," the queen told her. Swanfeather's whiskers twitched. "How?" she asked gently. "H-he had a heart attack. Jaystep was outside and he was alone when he died." Swanfeather sighed. So much death had happened in the past few sunrises: First Berrykit, then his sister Fernkit and now Birchsight.

Whitecloud had been devastated over the deaths of her two kits, and it didn't help that her father was dead now, too. Swanfeather trotted back to the nursery and what she saw surprised her- The she-kit had opened her eyes!

"Wolfpool? She opened her eyes," she called outside, ducking back in to go see the kit. "Hi!" she squeaked. Swanfeather purred, "Hi! A cat named Wolfpool is going to come in and check your eyes, okay? Then we can play and find out some things about you!" The kit nodded and the gray tom entered the den.

"Hi, little one," he purred. "I need to check your eyes." The she-kit nodded again and did as Wolfpool told her. "Close this eye," he instructed, pointing to her left eye. "Good. Now what can you see?" The she-kit squeezed her left eye shut and mewed, "The walls and… a white cat! Who are you?" she asked, gesturing to Swanfeather.

"I'm Swanfeather," she purred. The she-kit blinked. "Oh, okay." Wolfpool had her do the same thing with her right eye closed, then he exited the den. "You still need a name," Swanfeather mewed, eyeing the kit. "How about… Featherkit?" The she-kit titled her head thoughtfully. "I like that name!" she finally decided.

"Great," Swanfeather meowed. "Your new name is Featherkit! Now, do you want to play?" Featherkit's eyes widened. "Yeah!" she squeaked. "Let's go see what Whitecloud's kits are doing?" Swanfeather suggested.

They padded out into the clearing and looked around for the two kits. "Hi, Blackkit!" The white she-cat greeted. Blackkit glanced up from his game with his sister, and, noticing Featherkit, ran over. "Who are you?" he immediately asked. Featherkit sat down. "Featherkit," she answered. "And who are _you_?" Blackkit twitched his ears and grinned. "Blackkit, and this is my sister Rosekit!"

Featherkit suddenly looked shy. "Uh…" Swanfeather cut in. "Featherkit was wondering if she could play with you," she mewed, looking at Featherkit with amusement clear in her eyes. "Of course!" Rosekit answered happily. "Finally, another she-kit to play with," she added.

"Want to play, or do you want us to show you around?" Featherkit tilted her head. "I wanna play!" she decided.

The trio of kits padded to the clearing beside the nursery, chatting excitedly. "Let's play moss-ball! Me and Featherkit first, then winner plays Blackkit!" Rosekit mewed. Swanfeather smiled and sat down nearby to watch them play.

Surprisingly, Featherkit won the first game against Rosekit. The she-kit herself looked shocked. "I did it!" she cheered happily as Blackkit took his place across from her. "Remember, first kit to the nursery wall with the moss-ball wins!" Blackkit told her. Featherkit nodded.

"3… 2… 1… Go!" Swanfeather watched as Featherkit bolted forward and swerved around Blackkit, reaching the ball and holding it in her jaws. Blackkit stood in front of her, blocking her way to the nursery.

Featherkit ducked to one side but doubled back and darted around his left as he went to block her. He spun around and growled in frustration, running after her. But she had already reached the nursery wall, tossing the moss-ball at it and cheering her victory. "I beat both of you! I did it!" Swanfeather grinned at her happiness. _I think she'll fit in fine…_


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you people for reading and I hope you enjoy my ideas =)**

 **And yes… For those of you who noticed, Featherkit (the one who was Fallenkit's sister) has been replaced. Her name is now Amberkit. Sorry for any confusement xD oh and the four kits have become apprentices: Mothpaw, Duskpaw, Fallenpaw and** _ **Amberpaw.**_

 **So now Featherkit is the one who Swanfeather found and Amberpaw is Fallenpaw, Mothpaw and Duskpaw's sister**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading and ONWARDS!**

 **~Marble** _ **OUT**_

Swanfeather smiled down at Featherkit as she snuggled further into her belly fur. "Time to wake up, Featherkit," she murmured softly, nudging the black striped she-kit.

"I have to go on a hunting patrol, so you can play with Blackkit and Rosekit okay?" Featherkit nodded. "Okay! See you when you come back," she mewed cheerfully, bounding out of the nursery to find the other kits.

"Swanfeather! The patrol is leaving, hurry up!" Blackwing, a senior warrior who she was certain would soon retire as an elder, told her.

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" She replied, giggling. Ever since Featherkit had joined the Clan, Swanfeather was truly happy with her life. No cat bothered her quite as much, since they had mostly all gotten over Fuzzykit and Redkit's deaths.

Swanfeather sighed. _Fuzzykit and Redkit._ Redkit, the boisterous and talkative one, always coming up with a way to cheer the other kits up on a rainy day. Fuzzykit, the quiet and shy one. Every cat always found it funny how they were like complete opposites, whereas Swankit had been neither. Kind of in between, a little shy and sometimes talked a lot.

Swanfeather hoped they were happy in StarClan. _It's not fair I became a warrior and they didn't even get to become apprentices._ Her thoughts were interrupted by her father as they left the camp.

"Daydreaming?" Moonwhisker asked jokingly. The white she-cat snorted. "Maybe," she replied.

Moonwhisker grinned. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but it's almost leaf-bare and the Clan needs hunting more than daydreaming." Swanfeather rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Sunblaze, who was in the front of the patrol, glanced back at the chatting kin. "Hello? Yeah, I was thinking we could split up here. One of us go towards the abandoned Twoleg nest, one to the river and one to the SunClan border." Moonwhisker and Swanfeather nodded. "Sure! I'll go to the Twoleg nest," she offered.

"Okay. I'll go to the river, Moonwhisker, are you okay with going to the SunClan border?" The peppy ginger she-cat asked.

Moonwhisker sighed dramatically. "I _guess_." Swanfeather let out a _mrrow_ of laughter at her father. "Let's go then. Meet up here when you're finished."

The white she-cat immediately set off for the small, abandoned Twoleg nest. _Mouse! Wait, no- mice?_ Swanfeather grinned and remembered her warrior assessment, when she had found a whole nest of mice. Maybe she would be lucky and find one again.

Swanfeather padded forward slowly, making sure to set her paws down lightly. As soon as she peered inside of the den, she grinned.

A tiny but plump mouse was scuffling around the leaves in the corner. _Perfect,_ Swanfeather thought. She crept up on it silently, relieved when it continued searching without noticing her.

The she-cat had almost reached it. Finally, she leaped at it. Landing pretty much on top of it, she held it down and nipped its spine.

Swanfeather picked it up in her jaws and carried it to a tree, where she buried it under the leaves by the trunk. Othr than the scent of the mouse she had caught, she didn't smell anything else, prey-wise. She padded a little bit farther from the den and opened her jaws again to scent the air.

A shriek almost sent her flying into the air. "Sunblaze!" she gasped and ran towards the sound. Swanfeather found the she-cat: she was lying on the ground, a large, broken branch beside her.

"What happened?" She questioned, rushing up to help the older warrior. "I'll be fine," the ginger she-cat groaned, straining to stand. "Don't you worry."

Swanfeather twitched her ears. "You should still go see Wavefur or Wolfpool. What if you broke or sprained something?" she fretted.

Sunblaze snorted. "Wavefur? I think he's gonna retire to be an elder soon. At least, he should. Oh, and I heard, he's like, going deaf or something," Sunblaze told her as she stood and shook out her fur, wincing when her paw connected with the ground.

"Go see Wolfpool for your paw," Swanfeather demanded. "Or I'll make you," she added. Sunblaze rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll go." The white she-cat nodded, satisfied. "Okay. Let me go find Moonwhisker, and we can collect our prey and head back." And with that, Swanfeather padded back to where she buried her mouse. Following Moonwhisker's scent was difficult; it led all over the place and a few times, Swanfeather lost it.

Finally, she spotted her father stalking a squirrel. Swanfeather sat and waited until he was finished, then she trotted up to him. "Hi," she chirped. Moonwhisker turned around. "Oh, hi. Are we heading back to camp or what?" the black tom asked. "Yeah, Sunblaze fell out of a tree and I'm making her go see Wolfpool for her paw. This is all I caught," she mewed, gesturing to her mouse. Moonwhisker looked surprised. "Really? I remember my brother always telling me about when you were an apprentice. You used to catch a lot more prey. Anyways, I caught this squirrel and two voles," he said proudly, glancing back at a huge oak tree. "I buried them over there," he added.

Swanfeather dipped her head and got the two plump voles, carrying them back and letting Moonwhisker pick one up. Together they walked back to where Sunblaze waited, chatting a bit along the way.

 **(A/N: From now on, the point of view will be switched from Featherkit's and Swanfeather's. So, now it's Featherkit's turn.)**

I glanced up from my game with Blackkit and Rosekit and saw Swanfeather depositing prey at the fresh-kill pile with a black tom. Bounding over, I snuck up on her and pounced on her tail. She turned around. "Hi, Featherkit," she purred, gently removing my claws from her tail.

"Hey! How long until you become an apprentice?" Swanfeather asked, sounding happy and sad at the same time. "Exactly one moon!" I squeaked. "Wait… Are Blackkit and Rosekit gonna be apprentices before me?" Swanfeather nodded. "Yes, but only ½ a moon before. They aren't that much older than you." I sniffed and looked down. "So, am I going to be the only kit?" She blinked. "No, actually. Redleaf is expecting, and she should have her kits in a few sunrises, even." I inwardly cheered. "Okay! Is she that new cat in the nursery?" Swanfeather nodded.

"Oh. Well, I'm going back to play with Blackkit and Rosekit, then!" I called as I bounced over to where Blackkit and Rosekit were drawing in the sand.

 **Hope you liked this chapter… Sorry I took a while to update it but some… things happened. I had been writing this chapter over a period of, what, two days, and in those days… Two of my baby bunnies passed away =( So I haven't exactly been motivated to finish writing… Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story and please review**


	12. Chapter 12

**hai! Finally another chapter! I'm still sad becausefor one, the bunnies I told you about? Yeah, still upset about that, and there's more… So I had four baby bunnies in total. And the other two that were still alive and healthy… they died this morning. I'm pretty upset about this and now only the two adult bunnies are left… ;(**

 **Moving on, I hope you like this chapter! ;)**

 **~Marble out**

Featherkit's P.O.V.

"Wake up!" a voice whined in my ear. I sat up slowly, glaring at the cat who had spoken. "What?" I snapped. Usually I'm not this impatient, but I am not a morning cat. My friend looked at me. "It's our warrior ceremony!" he squealed. I frowned. "Uh… don't you mean your apprentice ceremony? I think you kinda need to be a 'paw first…" Blackkit stopped jumping around. "Oh, oops. Yeah, that's what I meant!"

"Anyways, when did Tanstar- I mean, _Dewstar_ , say the ceremony was going to be?"

Most of the Clan, including me, had a hard time believing Tanstar was gone. He had lost his last life due to sickness, and now we have a new leader and a new deputy- Dewstar, and Foxstep.

"Well, he said at sun-high, but we wanted you to get up so we could play before it!" he mewed. I twitched my whiskers. "Okay. What do you guys want to do? And thanks," I purred. Blackkit looked thoughtful. "I thought we could play warriors, and attack the apprentices!" he said as we exited the den and his sister Rosekit joined us.

Rosekit frowned. "But, we are almost apprentices, and that's something that kits do! We should… I don't know," she shook her head. I shrugged. "I'm fine with whatever you want to do, but I say we should play warriors! It's fun and this is the last time we will get to play it," I meowed, sitting and wrapping my black striped tail around my paws.

The other she-kit stomped a paw down. "But-" Blackkit interrupted her. "Let's just play it, okay? You'll have fun," he mewed, sitting beside me. "Fine," Rosekit snapped. "I'll play. My name is Rosethorn," she announced.

"Who is leader?" I asked. Blackkit and Rosekit looked at each other. "Uh, you!" they both said at the same time. I blinked. "You want _me_ to be the leader? I don't want to… Blackkit, will you?" Blackkit sighed. "Okay, but you will be my deputy!" he decided.

"Whatever. I will be… Featherlight," I mewed, and we began. Blackkit- Black _star_ , beckoned us forward with his tail while he crept towards the apprentices' den. Me and Rosekit followed silently, glancing at each other and purring quietly.

Blackkit raised his tail for us to stop. "Attack!" he yowled, rushing into the den. We heard

surprised meows as we leaped onto the unsuspecting apprentices, disrupting their sleep. "Hey!" One snarled, jumping up and pinning me to the ground. "Help!" I squealed, kicking his belly as he growled in my face.

"Get off!" I whined, pawing at him. "Duskpaw! Get off of her," a she-cat called to him sharply. He glanced at her and complied, lifting his weight off of me and allowing me to get up. I shook out my fur, glaring at him. "Thanks," I mewed shortly.

"Next time don't wake us up!" he hissed. I stood taller and stared at him defiantly. "You were going to be woken up anyway for Blackkit and Rosekit's ceremonies!" I told him matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but at least we didn't have a bunch of kits come squealing and jumping on us," he retorted. I narrowed my eyes and flounced out of the den, grinning as I saw Dewstar jump onto the Highrock. "All cats old enough to hunt gather to hear my words!" he called out, voice loud and clear.

I turned to Blackkit and Rosekit. "It's your ceremonies!" I squeaked happily. Their eyes widened and they rushed to the nursery, met outside by Whitecloud, who frantically started washing their fur.

"Okay, okay, we're good now!" Blackkit protested, squirming out of his mother's grip to pad away towards the Highrock. He and his sister scrambled up and stood in front of Dewstar, heads held high with pride. Swanfeather, my adoptive mother, came over and sat beside me, licking my head in a silent greeting.

I purred in response and turned to watch as Dewstar began. "Blackkit and Rosekit have reached their sixth moon, and it is time for them to be apprenticed," he gestured for the tom to step forward. "Blackkit, from this moment on until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Blackpaw. Your mentor will be Bearfur. I hope that he will pass on all he knows to you," mewed, resting his chin on Blackpaw's head as the tom licked his shoulder.

"Rosekit, from this moment on until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rosepaw. Your mentor will be Skyfur. I hope she will pass on all she knows to you," Dewstar meowed, and Rosepaw stepped forward to lick his shoulder. Dewstar dipped his blue-gray head. "That is all." The assembled Clan began to cheer: "Blackpaw! Rosepaw! Blackpaw! Rosepaw!" I looked at them, both happy and sad as they padded out of camp with their new mentors.

Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed Swanfeather staring after them, too. I turned so I was facing her and stood in front of her. "Hello? Is Swanfeather home?" I asked, giggling. She narrowed her eyes at me and growled in mock anger. "What do you want?" she hissed, crouching on the ground.

"Actually, I want some fresh-kill!" I laughed, dodging her as she leaped for my paws. Swanfeather snorted and led me to the pile. "Squirrel or mouse?" she asked. I sat in thought. "Hmm… Well, usually I would go for a mouse but today I think I'll have a squirrel!" I mewed.

The she-cat grabbed the plump squirrel and carried it to the nursery. I followed and settled down beside her as she sat in the nest, taking a bite out of it.

Swanfeather and I decided to go to sleep well after the rest of the Clan did. It was dark outside and every cat except for us was snoring and resting. Something felt odd as I lay down, though, and I knew something was going to happen. Something bad. I just didn't know what.

 **I hope that you enjoyed reading and I will be updating soon**


	13. Chapter 13

**Marble is back! I'm sorry I haven't updated for like 3 days, but thanks to** **The Silver Doge Queen** **and** **drsgon eclipse** **for reviewing regularly :) I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **~Marble out**

 _ **Swanfeather's P.O.V.**_

I sat up and looked around, startled. A familiar yet disgusting scent reached my nose- another Clan! Creeping out of the nursery silently, I peered around the corner and froze. Large, strong SunClan warriors were slinking into the camp. "Ambush!" I yowled, running straight to the nursery as the warriors leaped out of their den.

"Featherkit, come over here. You need to hide," I told a sleepy Featherkit, who stumbled over to the little hiding place I had gestured to. "Stay there and don't make a noise, okay? I will be back in to check on you," I promised her, worry rising in my belly.

 _What if you don't get back to her?_ I thought anxiously, darting outside to fight. SunClan warriors are known for being the most vicious, next to MistClan, who surprisingly hadn't shown any signs of hostility at the past few Gatherings.

A tom threw himself at me as I was distracted by my thoughts. Shocked, I lay while he clawed at my belly, then I snapped back to reality and kicked him off, sending him flying. Fear flashed across his blue eyes at my strength before he narrowed them and barreled into me, using his size as an advantage.

 _Act defeated!_ I screamed at myself, making my body go limp under his. He smirked in satisfaction and victory until I flew upwards and pinned him down, ready to strike the killing blow. The tom's eyes widened. "Please," he whimpered, his voice barely more than a whisper.

I stared at him. Helpless. His spotted golden pelt rippled as he gazed back at me fearfully. "Leave," I told him, my voice cracking. I released him and he pelted out of camp, throwing a backwards glance at me.

I heard a screech. Featherkit! Before I even knew it I was in the nursery, glaring at a tom invading the small space. "Get out," I hissed, my voice deadly. The tom sighed, "Oh, but, it seems that SmokeClan has been stealing prey from us. And _kits_." My eyes widened in surprise. "She's from… SunClan?" I squeaked, taking a step back. Featherkit glared at the tom defiantly. "Let me

go!" she demanded, wrinkling her nose. "I would never go to _SunClan_ with you!"

"Don't you remember me, kit? I am your _father_!" he growled, towering over her. Featherkit gasped. "L-Lionmane?" I stood and watched, my jaws hanging open. "S-She's not going back with you! She belongs here now! SunClan abandoned her," I meowed, tilting my head. "Right, Featherkit?"

The little she-kit looked uncertain. "I don't know… My family is there," she responded, averting her eyes from my gaze. "Well, I'll tell you one thing. We don't _need_ her!" Lionmane snarled, raising his claws and bringing them down on Featherkit's throat, digging them in.

"Featherkit!" I wailed, bolting forward and sinking my teeth into Lionmane's shoulder. "Get off!" he hissed, lashing his tail. I shook my head, my vision becoming blurred. "No… You killed her!" Leaping onto him again, I bit down hard into his neck. Blood poured from the puncture and I watched, frozen. What had I done?! Featherkit gasped and I remembered her. "Wolfpool!" I shrieked, attracting the blue-gray tom's attention immediately. He bounded over and stopped when he saw Featherkit and Lionmane. "Treat her! Heal her! Make her live!" I squeaked, licking the top of Featherkit's head. "I'm sorry, Swanfeather. There's nothing I can do. She's already gone," he whispered.

 _She's gone. It's all your fault… You could have stopped him._ The accusations invaded my mind until I thought I would go crazy if they didn't stop. "No. No… No!" I cried, voice choked with sobs.

"Come here, I need to treat the others and Wavefur can get you something for the shock," he murmured, guiding me to the medicine den. Inside, Wavefur sat looking through the herb store. "Featherkit is dead," he told Wavefur quietly. The old medicine cat looked up and saw me. "Ew," he muttered under his breath, pushing a poppy seed towards me.

"Eat it and lay down," Wavefur instructed. I nodded and bent down. After just a couple heartbeats I was falling over from both tiredness and sadness, and I had to stumble over to one of the already made nests.

 **Featherkit's P.O.V.**

I saw Swanfeather dart out of the entrance and call some cat. Then, the same tom that always checked up on us came in, looking sad. I gasped in pain as blood poured out of my wounds, staining the ground.

"Treat her! Heal her! Make her live!" I heard Swanfeather cry. "I'm sorry, Swanfeather. There's nothing I can do. She's already gone." _No… I don't want to die!_ I was suddenly in a bright, green forest. A starry cat stepped forward. "Welcome, Featherkit. Welcome to StarClan," the cat purred. "Who are you?" I asked, curious. The tom looked at me. "I am Snowstar, leader of SmokeClan before Tanstar." Oh. Wait… "No, wait, I don't want to be in StarClan! Why can't I live? Swanfeather got to, and… and… Blackpaw and Rosepaw!" I wailed. "Please!"

Snowstar shook his head slowly. "I am sorry. I understand it is hard to leave when you are so young. Your friends will miss you, yes, but they will live on. And eventually, you will get to meet them and guide them when their time is over." His voice was reassuring, but I still wasn't happy. "Fine. What do I do now, then?" I honestly didn't know. Snowstar purred. "Anything you want, for now," he answered.

"C-Can I watch the Clan life?" I asked sheepishly. The tom sighed. "Not all the time, okay? If you stay there too much, you'll get too attached. They can't see, hear, or smell you, just so you know. So yes. You may go, just think about where you want to be," he told me sternly, twitching an ear. And with that, he was gone.

I closed my eyes and thought about SmokeClan. The nursery, the medicine cat den… The apprentices, the warriors… I was there now, looking around. I didn't see Swanfeather in the nursery, but I did see… Me and my father's bodies. I choked back a sob and padded into the medicine cat den, noticing Swanfeather curled up in one of the nests.

"Featherkit… No!" she mumbled in her sleep. I smiled sadly, heading to the apprentices' den. Rosepaw and Blackpaw sat in their nests, washing their cuts and scratches. "I can't believe Featherkit is gone. She was about to become an apprentice! It's not fair," Rosepaw cried, curling herself into a ball. Blackpaw placed his tail on her shoulder. "It's okay," he whispered.

 **Well then. ;-; I'm sorry, I know, I know, Featherkit is gone D= She will be making appearances, whether her name is mentioned or her point of view is made from StarClan. I hope you liked the chapter and please review! =)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hai! :D Sorry I haven't updated earlier :/ I know it's been a few days or so (possibly even a week… :/) Anyway…**

 **The Silver Doge Queen:** **thanks for reviewing :D I felt bad when I was writing the last chapter with the part about Featherkit… hehe**

 **D4rkShadows55:** **I'm SORRRYY! I KNOOWW! THERE IS A REASON, DON'T WORRY!**

 **drsgon eclipse:** **I'm sorry for killing Featherkit off Dx Anyway thanks for reviewing! :)**

 **I hope you like the chapter!**

 **~Marble out**

"Rosethorn! Blackfur! Rosethorn! Blackfur!" The chants rang through the clearing, the two new warriors standing beside their leader proudly. "Congratulations," I purred to them. I noticed Rosethorn looked kind of sad. "Are you thinking of Featherkit?" I asked softly. She looked up and nodded.

"She was supposed to become a warrior with us…" she murmured. I glanced at the fresh-kill pile. "I know… Well, you two better grab some fresh-kill and get some rest before your vigil," I advised her, gesturing to Blackfur.

Rosethorn glanced at the small pile of prey. "I'm not really tired. I think I'll go hunting instead," she meowed, padding quickly out of camp and into the forest. I sighed. _Want revenge?_ a voice whispered sickeningly in my head. I blinked and glanced around.

 _What? Why would I need revenge?_ There was a pause, and the voice answered. _Featherkit. Remember her? And all those cats who wronged you when you were young… You need revenge._

"No I don't," I accidentally muttered out loud, drawing the attention of a few cats nearby. "Are you okay, Swanfeather?" I spun around to see my father. "What? Oh, sure. Yes, I'm fine," I stumbled over my words, and Moonwhisker studied me. "I'm going hunting," I announced, stalking away from them.

A surge of anger rose up inside of me as I padded through the undergrowth. A bird sang in the trees above me. So peaceful. I lay in the shade of a tree and rested my muzzle on my paws. Peace, quiet. Here, I didn't have the judging eyes of my Clanmates watching me.

 **(A/N: k since, ah, Featherkit… yeah, the POV will now be between Swanfeather and Marblefur)**

 **Marblefur P.O.V.**

I twitched my whiskers as I headed to the Gathering. Warriors and apprentices swarmed around me, talking and laughing happily. I saw Swanfeather, walking alone behind every cat. Hanging back to wait for her, I silently padded beside her.

"Hi," I said quietly. She didn't look up from her paws. "Hi," she meowed. I guessed she was thinking of Featherkit- the white she-cat had been excited to see her adopted kit go to her first Gathering.

Of course, this wouldn't have been Featherkit's first one, but Swanfeather didn't care. She wanted to see the little kit grow up, watch her become an apprentice, a warrior, maybe even deputy and then leader…

I thought Featherkit had potential to be a leader, actually. I swallowed back a snarl. SunClan. Those rotten, mangy fur-balls invade our camp, right before leaf-bare, and kill one of our kits? How dare they!

That was why this attack we had planned was going to be perfect. I grinned, turning my face away from Swanfeather. "I'm going to walk with Rosethorn," she suddenly mewed, running ahead to catch up with the new warrior.

I tilted my head thoughtfully, and padded up to the front of the group. "Dewstar? Is Swanfeather going on the… patrol?" I asked the leader as we approached the Gathering place. "Well, I haven't really considered her… but, do you think she should go?" I nodded quickly. "Yes, she will have even more to fight for than we will… She needs to go."

Dewstar shrugged. "Alright, I'll include her, then." I smiled. Great…

"SmokeClan is proud to introduce two new warriors: Rosethorn and Blackfur!" Dewstar yowled. The Clans began to cheer their names half-heartedly, and I spotted the littermates sitting, Blackfur looking proud and Rosethorn just looking embarrassed at getting this much attention.

"We also have a new litter of kits, born to Redleaf, and we are ready to fight off any enemies." As Dewstar's report finished, Skystar, the SunClan leader, stepped forward. "SunClan has no news to report- except that IceClan has been stealing prey!" Brownstar blinked. "What? Never, not since Brightstar was leader, have we stolen prey from your Clan!" he defended his Clan, the rest of his cats looking startled and some angry.

"Why would IceClan need to steal from _your_ StarClan-forsaken forest? We fish, remember?" I heard an IceClan apprentice growl to a SunClan cat. "Yeah, right! We all know that once the river freezes over, there'll be no fish left for you all leaf-bare, and I bet a whole squirrel you turned to our territory first!"

Dewstar stepped forward. "That is enough!" he snarled, silencing the arguing cats. "Skystar, if you and your Clan have an issue with IceClan, sort it out between yourselves- don't drag us into it!" Skystar narrowed her eyes at the younger leader. "And why should we listen to _you_? I'm pretty sure I have more experience in leading than you do!" she retorted angrily, lashing her tail.

Dewstar shook his head. "The Gathering is over!" he announced. SmokeClan began walking home.

 **-~- Time skip -~-**

"Foxstep, you and your patrol go around to the back entrance. Me and the rest of the cats will go in the front," Dewstar ordered his deputy quietly. Foxstep nodded. His patrol, including me, slunk around the camp wall and he peered in the opening.

"SmokeClan, attack!" we heard Dewstar's yowl and rushed forward, me and Brackenfoot darting into the nursery immediately. Inside were a few kits, huddled with their mother, who hissed weakly. Brackenfoot gestured behind her and he slashed at her side, drawing her away from the kits.

I grabbed one, a small, blue tom, and Brackenfoot distracted the queen while I ran out and towards the forest. A scrawny brown tom stopped me, and I snorted. Dropping the kit and standing over him, I snarled, "You're going to try and stop me?" He widened his eyes and backed up, calling for help.

I sighed and carried the kit quickly through the trees, stopping to comfort it when it began wailing. "Shh, shh, it's okay," I murmured. "It's okay, we aren't going to hurt you." He blinked up at me with brilliant blue eyes. "What's your name?" I asked. "My name is Stormkit…" he told me, and then sneezed and shivered. "It's cold out here," Stormkit mumbled, and looked around.

"When can I go back to my mother?" he questioned. I smiled warmly and answered, "Soon." Stormkit nodded, satisfied. "Promise?" The blue tom-kit demanded. "I promise," I said, purring.

"What's _your_ name?" he suddenly asked after a while of silence, me carefully padding through the forest with his body swinging from my jaws. "Marblefur," I answered, and he grinned. "You're nice! Some warriors in my Clan are really mean," he frowned. "I wish they would be nicer."

"They will be when you grow up." He snorted. "Do you know why they are mean to you?" Stormkit shrugged. "I think it's mostly because my mother used to be a rogue, but I know there is another reason- I just don't know what it is."

 **Okay I'm sorry it took me so long to write this! I have been busy with homework and school and going places with my family and all that good stuff… :/ Sorry, but I hope you enjoy the chapter and please review! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys :3 I'm back again, and although this time the chapter didn't take that long for me to write, it has still been a while, I guess. But I hope you like the chapter! :)**

 **~Marble out**

 **Marblefur P.O.V.**

I yawned as I carried Stormkit into the mostly deserted camp. Redleaf sat in the entrance of the nursery, watching her kits play and purring amusedly. "Hey, Redleaf!" I called over. "Can you take him?" Redleaf looked mildly surprised, as if she hadn't expected us to actually steal a kit, but nodded anyway. "Okay," I mewed, taking him to the warm nursery.

"His name is Stormkit," I added. "And he's kinda tired and cold, so would your kits mind coming inside early?" Redleaf shrugged. "Yes, I was going to get them to come in soon anyway. It's too chilly outside to play tonight," she answered, and called her kits over. "Nutkit! Hurry up!"

The tiny brown tom scampered over, trying to go faster on his short, stubby legs. "I can't!" he squealed, giggling. "Come on, let's go," Redleaf purred. "Your littermates are already inside."

The two other kits were sitting in their nest, chatting and laughing. "Leafkit! Petalkit!" Nutkit cried out, bursting into the nursery and almost running into me. "Who is that?" Leafkit squeaked, pointing at Stormkit. "His name is Stormkit- he's from SunClan, okay? He probably won't be here for long, though," Redleaf told her, and gathered her kits in their nest, along with Stormkit. "He's going to be staying here for a bit, so you should make friends with him," she purred, and I smiled.

 _I think he's going to be fine…_ I thought as I yawned and headed to my nest in the warriors' den. I spotted Swanfeather, curled up in the corner of the den in her nest. I remembered when we were apprentices, and she slept kind of in the same spot. In the corner, with plenty of breeze from the holes above her nest.

I settled myself into my nest, but it took a while before I was finally enveloped in darkness, and fell into a deep sleep.

"All cats old enough to hunt gather to hear my words!" Dewstar yowled, just as I opened my eyes. I groaned and stood up, stumbling out of the warriors' den tiredly and sitting amongst the group of cats assembled.

"As I said before the attack, _no kits are to be stolen_. Now, I made sure that every cat heard that- correct?" our leader seemed to be looking straight into my soul and I glanced away, disturbed. Had he told us that? I didn't know… Brackenfoot! He must've known! So why did he let me do it?

I threw a glare towards my brother, who was putting on an innocent and surprised expression. "And now we have a situation… Stormkit, who was stolen during the attack, will be returned- by the cat who brought him here." I sighed and relaxed. Brackenfoot was in trouble, not me.

"Swanfeather, you will leave at sun-high with Stormkit. But, you will need to take a cat with you- Branchpelt," Dewstar continued. _Wait,_ Swanfeather _? Brackenfoot, what did you do?_ "Actually, you should leave now," he mused, observing the sky. "But you better hurry, it's going to rain soon."

I saw Swanfeather narrow her eyes at me, and I blinked at her apologetically. She stood up stiffly and stalked out of camp with my brother, who smirked at Brackenfoot as they left. I padded over to him.

"What did you do, Brackenfoot? I didn't know we weren't supposed to take the kits! Why didn't you tell me? We both know Swanfeather had nothing to do with it!" I stepped towards him as he twitched an ear calmly and answered me: "I did what I had to so we didn't get in trouble. I didn't tell you because this was the perfect chance to blame Swanfeather! And yeah, sure, _we_ know she didn't do it, but Dewstar doesn't know that," his calm and smooth meow angered me even more.

"And what if I told him?" I hissed, my voice cold. When did my brother become so… mean?

 **Swanfeather P.O.V.**

Branchpelt trotted beside me, every once in a while letting out a sigh. "So, Nutkit, Leafkit and Petalkit should be apprentices soon…" I mewed awkwardly, trying to make conversation to replace the eerie silence as we trekked through the dense forest.

He shrugged. "I guess." Frowning, I turned to him. "They are Brackenfoot's kits! Aren't you excited?" I smiled, and he lifted his gaze. "Yeah, I'm pretty excited. I was hoping one of them would be apprenticed to me, but since I still have Fallenpaw… Speaking of Fallenpaw, his warrior assessment was yesterday! Their ceremonies should be either tomorrow, or the next day," he sounded happier as he told me, and I sunk into my own thoughts when he stopped talking.

 _Maybe I'll get an apprentice! Petalkit would be nice…_ Stormkit, who, up until now, had been silent, broke in. "Hey, will we be there soon?" His stubby legs weren't ready for walking this far yet, I guessed. "I'm tired," he whined. I twitched my whiskers. "Want me to carry you the rest of the way?" I offered, and he tilted his head. "Please! But, uh… Can I have a badger ride?" I breathed out after he asked. "Sure…" Stormkit reminded me so much of Featherkit…

Stormkit grinned and climbed onto my back. I began stomping around, lumbering through the woods until we were almost at his camp. Surprisingly, no patrols had come, so we just sat and waited for a bit. When no cats left, I stepped up and peered into the entrance. Cats milled around, looking bored, and a full fresh-kill pile sat in the shade of one side.

I was shocked. They had so much prey! "I smell SmokeClan!" a brown tom suddenly leaped up, and others glared at him for disrupting their sleep. "Of course you do!" One snapped. "They attacked us just last night, remember?" The tom shook his head, and I giggled. "No, they are here now!" his mew was more urgent now, and me and Branchpelt glanced at each other.

"Let's go in," I whispered. We pushed through the entrance with Stormkit padding beside us, and the brown tom widened his eyes. "See? I told you! I knew I smelled them!"

A huge tom emerged from a den and saw us. "Can we help you?" he growled. I looked at him. "Um... " Stormkit stepped forward. "Remember me?" he asked, sounding kind of angry. "Oh, right. You," the tom sneered. "Your mother is in the nursery," he said, turning and padding back into the den.

"That was odd…" I muttered and shook my head. "We'll see you at Gatherings when you become an apprentice," I told Stormkit as he headed for the nursery. He glanced back at me, then sighed and walked in. "Bye," he mewed sadly, poking his head out.

"Stormkit!" we heard squeals from the inside as his littermates greeted him happily. "Let's go back," I murmured, whipping around and running out of the camp. Branchpelt followed me, staying silent the entire way home.

When we had reached the border, rain began to fall. I groaned. We entered the camp quickly, water cascading off of our pelts onto the ground, running down to form puddles. The birds that were singing returned to their nests, as did most of the cats of our Clan. I purred at the peace and quiet- it was odd for nothing interesting or drastic to happen for this long.

"No incidents?" Dewstar called, padding across the clearing to see the fresh-kill pile. "Uh, no, nothing really happened," Branchpelt answered, shrugging. Suddenly, a she-cat flung herself at him. "Amberpaw!" he gasped, struggling to stand. She hopped off him and smiled. "Dewstar said our ceremonies are going to be tomorrow!" she squealed, jumping around excitedly.

Branchpelt visibly brightened. "That's great!" I grinned at him, then padded to the warriors' den. Yawning, I almost stepped on Brackenfoot. I thought for a minute, before backtracking and 'accidentally' stepping on his face.

He shot up and hissed, his dark brown tail bushing up. "Swanfeather!" he snarled, but I was already in my nest, my back to him and my eyes closed. I forced my breathing to slow until he muttered something under his breath and settled back in his nest.

I held in my laughter, then stood up and threw a clump of moss at him. Again, he flew upwards as if he was preparing for it. I dropped down, but this time I actually fell asleep.

 **Marblefur's P.O.V.**

"Wavefur is dead!" the anguished wail woke me up. I quickly stood and ran out of the den, stretching my neck to see past the other cats gathered around his body. As soon as I had seen it, I wished I hadn't. The old tom's body was mangled and bloody, his neck twisted at an impossible angle as well as one of his back legs.

I stared in horror, until I saw a blurry shape slink into camp from the dirtplace. When I had forced my gaze from Wavefur, the cat was already gone. I padded over and sniffed the entrance, but all the cats' scents mixed together.

Some were recent, but I couldn't pick out the one that was just there. Frowning, I brushed it off as my imagination and shook my head. Although Wavefur was old and could be mean at times, the Clan would still miss him. Wolfpool was a great medicine cat, and he's going to be a great mentor, too, when he gets an apprentice, but Wavefur taught him all he knew.

I flinched back as Wolfpool and Redleaf prepared his body for burial, and cats gathered around to sit vigil for the old cat. A tom sat beside me. "Hi, Bearfur," I mumbled, looking away. The brown tom pressed himself against my flank. "Wolfpool is going to be kinda out of it for a while, don't you think?" he asked, sounding a bit worried for his brother.

"Yeah, but I think Nutkit or Petalkit may become his apprentice. Leafkit is looking forward to being a warrior, but Nutkit has his little heart set on becoming a medicine cat. I don't know about Petalkit, though," I answered, trying to change the subject from Wavefur.

Even when I was sent out hunting, the image of his dead body filled my mind, and I found it hard to concentrate. Deaths always got to me, and I couldn't even stand the sight of a dead mouse when I was a kit.

I caught nothing, but on the way back I managed to get a slow, old mouse. I sighed at my pathetic hunting trip, but took it back to the fresh-kill pile nonetheless. Dewstar greeted me silently from where he sat by Wavefur's body with a wave of his tail, and Bearfur approached me again.

He was looking at Wolfpool again. His brother was laying by Wavefur with his head on the old tom's flank. Another tom came up and sat on my other side- Foxstep. The ginger deputy usually kept to himself, not quite the same as he was as an apprentice or a kit.

As a 'paw, Foxstep was loud and obnoxious, and I remember he was the one who was the most rude to Swanfeather, even when she was a kit. Funny, though, how much he changed.

"Hey, Marblefur," he mewed. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" I glanced at Bearfur. "Ah, sure." I stepped away from him. Foxstep sat beside the apprentices' den and I copied him, waiting for him to talk first.

"You do know what I wanted to talk to you about, right?" he finally asked. I shook my head slowly. "Uh, no…" He looked slightly surprised. "Bearfur- you do know he likes you?" I widened my eyes. "What? No, we're just friends. Bearfur doesn't like me…"

Foxstep narrowed his eyes at me. "Mmhmm. Well, he does, and I know that you like him. So why don't you just ask him? Trust me, he's got other she-cats all over him, but unless you ask, he's going to choose one of them instead."

I glanced at the brown tom. Bearfur still sat, waiting patiently for us to come back. I guess I did kind of like him… "Alright… I will, soon. But not right now," I muttered, and Foxstep grinned. "Okay," he winked, and then he was gone, ordering warriors to go on patrols or doing whatever it is that deputies do.

I padded back over to Bearfur. "Hi," he mewed, not taking his gaze off of Wolfpool.

"Hi."

 **Well, as a gift for this chapter and the last being so late, I give you: 2108 words! No, not including this little author's note. ^-^ Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hai guys! Here is (finally) another chapter :) I know last chapter I made it a bit longer, and I may or may not do that with this one, but either way I hope you like it!**

 **OMG I'm so sorry it's been like more than a week thank you my loyal readers for staying with me :)**

 **~Marble out**

 **Swanfeather P.O.V.**

 _Wake up._ I opened my eyes and found myself staring into another pair of blue ones. "Uh…" I stuttered, struggling to sit up. "Hi!" the cat chirped. "Hi…" I murmured awkwardly. Blinking to clear the sleepiness from my eyes, I realized who it was. "Oh, hi, Foxstep…"

The tom had been hanging around me for a while, and I found it quite odd… "Um, Dewstar told me to wake all the warriors up- it's Fallenpaw, Amberpaw, Duskpaw, and Mothpaw's ceremonies. You're the last one to wake up," he told me, and I stretched. "Okay, I'll be out in a minute," I yawned. He left, and I stood up, grooming my chest fur quickly.

Before I could leave the den, I heard Dewstar. "All cats old enough to hunt gather to hear my words!" I sighed and padded out, sitting by Marblefur, who was whispering to Bearfur. I guess they're mates, now, then.

Foxstep settled himself beside me, purring. "It's about time those four become warriors," he commented. "Seems like they've been training for _ever_!" I nodded. "I know, it does."

"I, Dewstar, leader of SmokeClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Fallenpaw," Dewstar went on, facing the tom. "do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Every cat's eyes were on Fallenpaw as he straightened his shoulders and answered confidently, "I do." Dewstar smiled. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Fallenpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Fallensky. StarClan honors your strength and honesty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SmokeClan." I kind of zoned out until I was jerked back to reality by the chanting of my Clanmates:

"Fallensky! Amberstone! Duskear! Mothfur!" I quickly joined as the four littermates stood proudly in front of Dewstar. "You will begin your vigil tonight and guard the camp." I suddenly remembered my warrior ceremony, in which me, Marblefur, Brackenfoot and Branchpelt had taken turns.

Sighing, I nodded to Foxstep as he assigned cats to patrols, and called out, "Going hunting!" The ginger tom shrugged, and I padded out of camp into the forest. The birds were out again, singing and chirping to their heart's content. Usually it gets kind of annoying, but today it was nice.

A squirrel was digging around in the leaves at the bottom of a tree, and I purred quietly. Perfect.

 **Marblefur's P.O.V.**

"Can you go get Brackenfoot? He went hunting by the SunClan border," Dewstar asked, and I nodded. "Is it okay if I take a warrior? I know SunClan's been a bit… you know, off, lately." The blue tom nodded and I set off in direction of the fresh-kill pile, where some warriors had gathered.

"Hey, Amberstone!" I called out and the pretty she-cat looked up from where she was sitting with Branchpelt. My brother glanced up, too, and narrowed his eyes. "Sure!" she meowed, and Branchpelt threw her a short glare.

"But-" he started to protest, and I cut him off. "We need to go now, it's gonna rain soon," I told Amberstone and she nodded.

Padding out into the green forest, we began following Brackenfoot's scent, and I realized with a jolt of shock that I noticed the same scent that I had when Wavefur died.

It smelled of the forest but of SmokeClan at the same time, and it was intertwined with Brackenfoot's.

Frowning, panic coursed through me and I started running, yowling, hoping, wishing. "Brackenfoot!" Wishing, hoping. But, when we stumbled across him behind a bush- my hopes, my wishes, they all crumbled away.

"Brackenfoot…" I sobbed, burying my nose in his blood-soaked fur. Suddenly his flanks heaved, and he gasped, his eyes flickering open.

"Catch… her…" he breathed out, gazing into my eyes. "P-please…" I shook my head as he went limp again, his eyes glazing over. Remembering Amberstone, I glanced up her, sniffling. Her mouth was open in shock, and she didn't tear her eyes from Brackenfoot's.

"We need to get him back to camp!" I cried. "Wolfpool might be able to save him!"

"I'm sorry, Marblefur, but as I told you already, there's nothing we can do. He is gone, Marblefur," Wolfpool mewed and Marblefur shook her head, trying to understand, to know, that he's gone, forever, he would never come back, he was in StarClan now. It was so hard, but she realized, now, she knew, she knew exactly how Swanfeather had felt, and she knew- this isn't even as bad as what happened to her.

"Both of her siblings, Marblefur. Both of them. You still have one, and now you need to protect him. And yourself. This cat, this monster, he's out to kill us. No cat will survive as long as he's out there, roaming in the forest," Wolfpool spoke, almost as if he could read her mind, and he could tell, knew what was going on in her head.

"He had a mate, and- and kits…" I sobbed, and Redleaf poked her head in. "I'm so sorry!" I wailed, running over to her. Her eyes widened as she saw Brackenfoot laying, in the nest, his wounds covered in random herbs and pastes, from when I tried to save him.

"Branchpelt needs to know," Wolfpool whispered to me. I nodded and sniffed, holding my head up and padding across the camp. As I neared my other brother, though, I broke down in sobs and he rushed over, confused. "What happened? What is it?" he asked, frantically searching for an answer as to why Brackenfoot hadn't come over and talked to him, or why I was crying.

"Brackenfoot is dead!" I wailed. Branchpelt's eyes widened, and he ran towards the medicine cat den, to see, to know if it was true. Of course, it was, and he came back after Wolfpool shooed him out.

"He's dead," he whimpered. "He's really gone." I shook my head, and I was the only one who noticed a lithe shape slip into the warriors' den as every other cat gathered around the medicine cat.

 _I know who is doing this,_ I realized. _Now I just need proof._

 **?'s P.O.V.**

I stood up mock surprise, staring at the body. Fake tears rolled down my face, and I sighed as they fell onto the ground, making a small circle of darker ground. "Wolfpool," Dewstar addressed his younger brother. "You and the elders will bury him in the morning. For now, you can get his body ready…"

Pebbletail hobbled out of the elders' den. Her forepaw had been twisted, and it was making it hard for her to walk, but she still did. I gazed at the sky and zoned out, subconsciously joining the group of cats who were mourning Brackenfoot. Sitting, I noticed a few cats glancing at me, and snorted.

So, me and Brackenfoot weren't the best of friends- that doesn't mean I can't mourn for him, too. That doesn't mean I can't miss him. But as I looked around, at my Clanmates, at the forest, at the sky- at everything, I realized I don't belong here. Maybe I already knew that.

But I just now realized what I have to do. They need to be told, they need to find out- that life is just a game, but what we do with it is our choice. Now, what is the point of sitting here, in our camp, doing absolutely nothing, when we could be out there, exploring, adventuring, having _fun_. Fun- the word my Clanmates sometimes don't seem to understand.

But then again, when I was young, they ripped it from me, too. For a long time, I didn't

understand, either. I do now. I have decided it- from now on it will be my duty to make sure they know, understand, that no matter how good you think your life is- everything can be ripped from you in a matter of seconds.

I would make them understand, feel my pain. They don't have a choice.

 **Well there you go, I tried to make it a bit longer to make you happy for not updating in at least a week… :( Sorry, but I WILL write the next chapter in the next few days. If not, you all get a virtual cookie (::) (::) (::)**

 **~Marble out :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**HEYY! Okay so I know it hasn't been** _ **that**_ **long since the last chapter, but in the beginning of this story I mentioned that I wanted to update this every few days or so, and the last chapter took me a little more than a week to write… To me, that's not okay :/ So, I am going to make the next few chapters EXTRA long to make up for it :)**

 **But, since they will be longer, they may or may not take me longer to write… I can tell you, though, that it will not be a week before the next chapter :)**

 **D4rkShadows55: You'll just have to wait and see… ;) But yes Featherkit did actually die :P**

 **Anyway, I hope I will be able to update soon and that you like the story!**

 **~Marble out**

 **Swanfeather P.O.V.**

It took me longer to get up than I thought it would, but I didn't know why I was so tired. Foxstep, again, woke me up, and I was kind of getting fed up with his constant company. It seemed he was stuck to my side; I knew he liked me, now- I just don't know why. Swanfeather, the loner, strange, weird, mean, _kit-killer_.

That was the younger warriors' favourite nickname for me now- kit-killer. They even got some of the elders and senior warriors to, like Blackwing and Pebbletail- yes, my own mother. But, these days, life was getting boring; I need something exciting to happen.

When Brackenfoot died, I noticed that Marblefur kind of kept to herself more, and she snuck out of camp whenever she could to go visit the river where he was buried. Death hit her hard, we all knew, so we left her alone when she wanted to be, stayed with her when she was lonely.

Life was so _boring_ since then, something needed to happen. Of course, there was nothing I could do. The Clan life was easy now, we had good prey, the other Clans were friendly- except SunClan- and there was no battles, no cat was sick or dying from a battle wound.

Then, finally, the day it took me so long to wake up, something happened. Gold, orange, yellow- it danced across the camp, the whole of the forest lit up in a beautiful, deadly glowing blaze. Flames fought their way into the dens, alighting the nests and trapping warriors- but she saved them. The white she-cat, who looked so much like myself, saved them, dragged them out, burned her own pelt to save them- if only I was like her.

Me? I saved two cats- Foxstep and myself. The deputy had gotten himself trapped in the elders' den, after getting them out he had tried to follow and instead got stuck underneath a burning branch. His eyes met mine, and he told me to go, leave him, get the apprentices, get every cat out- but I didn't listen.

Foxstep screeched at me as I shouldered my way in and ignored the heat, the searing pain as it burned my fur. Lifting the branch was not an easy task; my nose, eyes, and ears suffered when I nosed it off of him.

He wouldn't go first, made me run out, he almost got himself stuck again. The ginger tom then led me out of the camp and we sheltered by the roaring, swollen black river, and we had no idea if the Clan was safe or dead, lost among the blazing fire or not. The rock overhang provided little shelter from the smoke, and we tried to breathe as little as possible to avoid breathing it. The fire was still burning, all day and even into the night.

Finally, a light rain began to fall; it quickly turned into a harsh downpour, drenching the forest and eventually putting the fire out. Me and Foxstep, still huddled underneath the rocks, watched the flames burn out and simmer, the branches black and the ground covered with ashes.

"I hope the Clan is okay," Foxstep murmured, shifting so that he pressed closer to me. I nodded silently. "We should wait until the morning until we try to find them." Sighing, I settled myself into a comfortable position and rested my head on my paws.

Rain drops fell on my head as I watched the gold and orange flames die out.

 **Marblefur's P.O.V.**

"Marblefur, she's fine," Wolfpool hissed as I fussed over Leafkit, who was squirming and mewling feebly at me. "Stop it!" she finally squealed. I sighed and pulled away, blinking at her. "Sorry. I just need to know if you're going to be okay," I glanced up at the medicine cat, who nodded curtly and looked back at the she-kit.

"Now, where was the last place you saw your brother, Leafkit?" the gray tom asked, leaning down to be at the kit's level. "Well, he said he was going to save the apprentices," she started, snorting. "So he ran out and I think I saw him go… right, I think, before he disappeared and that was the last I saw of him." I shook my head and turned around, padding out of the den quickly.

As I tried to quietly sneak out of the camp, a large black tom stopped me. "Hey! We are in IceClan's camp- we can't just leave!" The old, black furred cat blocked my way. "Blackwing! Just let me go, okay? I want to go check out the camp." He sneered and waved his tail. "If you wanted to go, you should have volunteered earlier." I sighed, exasperated. "Fine. Can I go look for Swanfeather and Foxstep, then?" Another tom answered me, bounding up to us.

"Sure! Go with a patrol, my cats have been itching to get out," the brown furred leader told me, gesturing to the Clan. "Okay." I waited by the entrance as he called over a few cats, and we headed out, myself in the lead.

"So, you were the she-cat who saved a bunch of warriors, aren't you?" One of them, a golden brown spotted she-cat, spoke up. We had reached the river. Stopping and licking a paw, I nodded awkwardly. "Yeah..."

The rest of the trip was silent- we came across Foxstep, who had smelled us and ran over, claiming he and Swanfeather had sheltered beside the river for the night. We all padded back to camp, the other SmokeClan she-cat and the deputy talking quietly.

"Wolfpool, we found them." The medicine cat looked up and twitched his ears in acknowledgement, then turned back to Leafkit. "Okay. Bring them in, but I need to see her and Nutkit first." I blinked. "They found Nutkit?"

My question was answered as I saw a small blue she-cat carry the limp form of the little tom, his flanks quivering slightly. "He apparently tried to follow Swanfeather and Foxstep after they left the camp, but he fell in the river. When we saw him he was on the bank, soaked and barely breathing. He's lucky to be alive," the IceClan warrior informed us.

"Okay. I'll need space, so go and do whatever it is warriors do, I guess," Wolfpool muttered, turning to the two kits and mumbling under his breath.

 **?'s P.O.V.**

"Due to smoke inhalation, Nutkit will have to spend the rest of his life either as a medicine cat or an elder. Leafkit's lungs are fine, a bit damaged but they will heal. Nutkit, however, had much more serious injuries to his lungs and chest, and will have difficulty breathing," Wolfpool explanation was quiet and muffled from where I sat, in cover under the bushes and leaves.

I sensed a movement I assumed was a shrug. "Great. He wanted to become a medicine cat anyway, didn't he?" Dewstar. I snorted. Ignorant tom, thought he was a great leader. Really, he was just a sniveling kit in the body of a full grown warrior. He was so weak, he even lost a life already from a border skirmish with SunClan.

Well, I guess some cat was going to have to toughen him up. Grinning, I emerged from my hiding spot and headed to the clearing in the corner of the camp where SmokeClan made their temporary nests.

Curling up in my nest, which was made of dead moss, I began to think about the events of the past few days. Dewstar had shown our weakness in front of the other Clans by asking for hospitality, and in the end we ended up sneaking past their territory to end up in IceClan.

Snorting yet again, I thought of that ginger-furred deputy and how I simply couldn't wait for him to become leader. Dewstar was weak, stupid, and he would destroy our Clan faster than I could.

 _Would,_ I corrected myself in my mind. _Will._ Because as long as no cat knows who is doing it, I have all the power I will ever need.

 **Sorry it was kind of short but I didn't want to keep you waiting! The next chap will be up soon! :)**

 **~Marble out!**


	18. Chapter 18

**…**

 **I know what you're thinking…**

 **Has Marble finally posted the next chapter…?**

 **…**

 **No…?**

 **I'm sorry but**

 **I've kind of lost inspiration for this story just a little bit**

 **But I will be finishing it!**

 **Just not now…**

 **I might be writing other stories…**

 **But I promise eventually I will finish this story**

 **Sorry .-.**

 **Story so I don't get reported..:**

Once upon a time there was a cat named Sparklepaw she wanted to become a great warrior. So she killed a bear and the leader immediately made her deputy. Sparkleheart wanted to be the leader so she killed the other leader, Pinkstar. Now Sparklestar has had kits with her mate Awesomefur and named them Perfectkit, Beautifulkit and the last one she hated so she named him Stupidkit.

"Their warrior names will be Perfectgleam, Beautifulsparkle and Stupidface," Sparklestar murmured as she fell asleep with her kits, Stupidkit having been kicked off to the side.

Stupidface grew up and killed her mom, dad, and sisters and everyone who hated him and changed his name to BetterThanPerfectgleamstar and lead the Clan.

The End.


	19. Chapter 19

**Er mah gawsh sorry for that little 'break' (I say little -.-) but I couldn't think of anything to write… I guess you could call it writer's block, but kinda only for this one story… Anything else I had pretty much no trouble writing but I'm glad I finally got this written and posted! :)**

 **Mallowheart:** **Thank you for pointing that out :P I noticed that, but it was kinda too late to change it, so I just left it. Thanks, though! :)**

 **Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and please review! :)**

 **~Marble out**

 **?'s P.O.V.**

"I told you," the cat hissed to me. "You need to be more careful!" I snorted and glanced at the shadowy form. "Oh, shut up," I growled. "I've been more than careful. No cat even suspects me anyway!"

The other cat pulled back, mock surprise flooding into his eyes. "Oh, really? No cat suspects you? Then why was there a white she-cat, ah, Marblefur, or something, snooping around the dirtplace- you know, the place you always sneak back through once you've 'disposed' of the body?" his voice was angry now, and he approached me fast, malice filling his amber eyes. "I told you," he repeated.

 _"Be more careful."_

Those three words played over and over again in my mind as I woke up and stretched. Cats chatted happily around me, and I wondered why. Was something happening today? Were we going back to our own camp, or what? I pondered this as I looked outside at the gathering cats, and the fact that Dewstar, not Brownstar, stood on the tall rock that IceClan used for Clan meetings, told me.

We were going back to our camp today. I saw a cat start heading towards me and I quickly ducked into the dirt place, hoping they wouldn't follow me. To my relief, they didn't, and as I sat and waited a few long heartbeats to return to the clearing, I listened to Dewstar proudly talking about how great of a leader he is.

Okay, that might not be _exactly_ what he was talking about… But still- Dewstar had no skills, he can't fight, he can barely manage to even catch a mouse! From what I heard Wolfpool say, Dewstar is already down to _seven lives_. He's pretty much just throwing them away, just because he can.

What a waste! Sometimes I wonder how that mouse-brain ever even got accepted as leader by StarClan. Or if he even did!

Maybe he didn't, but Wolfpool and him kept it a secret from the rest of the Clan!

...What am I thinking? He probably did get accepted by StarClan, but even if he did, I still don't like him and I don't think he should be our leader.

"SmokeClan, gather to hear my words!" he called to attract the attention of the few cats who still hadn't sat to listen. "The patrol we sent out a few sunrises ago has confirmed it- we will go back to our own camp tonight!" I heard the cheering and yowling of my Clanmates and decided to go back, sitting along the outskirts of the group.

IceClan bid us farewell and we were gone by sun-high, skirting around the other Clans' territories and eventually arriving at our own, mostly destroyed camp. The kits bounced around, mewling excitedly, while the elders grumbled about having to wait for the warriors to rebuild their den.

"Alright, I want Bearfur, Blackwing, and Nightgaze working on the warriors' den! Moonwhisker, Branchpelt, and Skyfur, you do the apprentices'. Speaking of apprentices," Dewstar called. "I would like to finally give three kits the ceremony they deserve."

The Clan, hearing his words, gathered underneath him and gazed up, waiting for the three kits to go up. "Nutkit, it is of my understanding that you wish to become a medicine cat." Dewstar dipped his head to Wolfpool, who stepped forward from behind him.

"Cats of SmokeClan, as you all know, I will not be around forever. So, it is time I took on an apprentice. I have chosen a cat who has shown bravery and kindness to others. Your next medicine cat will be-" a cat leaped to their paws in the crowd. "Wait!"

 **Marblefur's P.O.V.**

A cat leaped to their paws in the crowd. "Wait!" I turned around to face them in shock. "What are you doing?" I hissed to Branchpelt. "I will not accept this," he growled. "You promised me Nutkit as an apprentice!"

Dewstar looked equally surprised. "Uh, Branchpelt, I understand you wanted to train him," he began carefully. "But, due to the damage done to his lungs from the smoke, and the fact that he wants to be a medicine cat, you nor I can stop him. It is StarClan's wishes that Nutkit be trained by Wolfpool. Perhaps you will get an apprentice from our next litter of kits," he mewed, throwing my brother a warning glance.

"Fine," I heard him snarl, and he turned around, and stalked out of the camp. "What has gotten into him?" I whispered to Amberstone. She shook her head, her eyes wide. "I have no idea," she answered.

"Anyway," Wolfpool meowed awkwardly. "Your next medicine cat will be Nutpaw!" Dewstar grinned and turned to the tom. "Nutpaw, do you accept the post of apprentice to Wolfpool?" Nutpaw took a deep breath and nodded. "I do."

The gray medicine cat dipped his head. "Then, at the half-moon, you must travel to the Moonpool to be accepted before the other medicine cats."

Dewstar faced the two remaining she-cats. "Petalkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Petalpaw. Your mentor will be Fallensky. I hope he will pass down all he knows to you."

"Leafkit, you have also reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Leafpaw. Your mentor will be Rosethorn. I hope she will pass down all she knows to you." I noticed the new mentor's brother scowling at them. Blackfur had a little bit of a problem sometimes when it came to containing his anger. I took a step back as he stalked forward and I heard him mutter, "She doesn't deserve that apprentice. I do!"

The Clan began to cheer loudly. "Nutpaw! Petalpaw! Leafpaw! Nutpaw! Petalpaw! Leafpaw!" Suddenly, a thought came to me. _Is Stormpaw is a warrior yet?_ The apprentice hadn't crossed my mind, but now he was all I could think about. _I wonder what his warrior name is- or will be?_

 _Maybe Stormcloud, or Stormfoot. Stormstrike? Yeah, probably Stormstrike._ "It's the half-moon tomorrow, Nutpaw, remember," I heard Wolfpool call to his new apprentice. Wait- that means it's almost the gathering! _Maybe I'll see Stormpaw- or Stormcloud or Stormfoot or Stormstrike or whatever his name is._

"Okay, we still need cats working on the nursery." Dewstar thought for a couple heartbeats. "Rosethorn, Fallensky, Petalpaw and Leafpaw! You four do the nursery. And, last but not least," he added dramatically. "The elders' den. Marblefur, Swanfeather, Mothfur, and Duskear. Alright, get a move on, cats!"

We all began heading to our designated spots, me and Swanfeather walking together while Mothfur and Duskear chatted happily behind us. I got an idea suddenly. "Hey, Duskear," I began, spinning around to face them. He glanced from his sister to me. "Yeah?" I smirked inwardly. "So, ah, how's it going with Rosethorn?" Embarrassment filled his eyes and he scuffed his paws on the ground.

"Uh, she, uh, likes Fallensky…" he muttered. I blinked. "Oh. I thought she liked you, though?" Duskear's pelt bristled. "Apparently not," he growled. I turned back around and padded to where the elders' den was to be, widening my eyes slightly. _Attitude…_

 **-~- Time skip -~-**

By moon-high we were finished the elders' den. I backed up to admire our work- the walls were tightly woven sticks, and the warriors who weren't rebuilding had brought every cat some moss. Pebbletail and Sami came in almost as soon as we were done, looking for some rest.

"Dewstar stuck us with the apprentices," Pebbletail grumbled. "There may only be two, but I've never heard such chatty young cats!" I snorted and went to see the warriors den. "Still not finished?" I called over, seeing only half of it built. Blackwing looked up. "No, not yet. We're gonna keep going in the morning, but for now we have the ground, the sky, and the elders' den." I let out a _mrrow_ of laughter and sat down.

"The apprentices' isn't done yet either?" I questioned. Nightgaze padded up, shaking his head. "And at the rate those apprentices and their mentors are going, I doubt it'll ever be finished!"

 **Well then. Sorry this took me SO LONG to write, but since this was kinda short and I haven't done this in a while, ALLEGIANCES!**

 _ **SMOKECLAN**_

 **LEADER: Dewstar- small blue-gray tom with green eyes and white tail-tip**

 **DEPUTY: Foxstep- flaming ginger tom with blue eyes**

 **MEDICINE CAT: Wolfpool- dark gray tom**

 **APPRENTICE, Nutpaw**

 _ **WARRIORS:**_

 **Blackwing- large, old black tom with intimidating amber eyes**

 **Moonwhisker- dark gray/black tom with deep blue eyes, Swanfeather's father**

 **Sunblaze- old, ginger she-cat with fiery amber eyes**

 **Skyfur- blue she-cat with odd silver/blue eyes, quiet**

 **Bearfur- brown tom with one white forepaw and dark blue eyes**

 **Fallensky- ginger and white tortoiseshell tom with blue eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Petalpaw**

 **Duskear- dusty brown tom with green-blue eyes**

 **Mothfur- ginger tortoiseshell she-cat with serious blue eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Leafpaw**

 _ **APPRENTICES:**_

 **Nutpaw- light brown tom with blue eyes**

 **Petalpaw- pale brown**

 _ **QUEENS:**_

 **Mapleleaf- old light brown she-cat with soft blue-green eyes**

 **Redleaf- reddish tabby she-cat with blue eyes**

 _ **MISTCLAN**_

 **LEADER: Badgerstar- large, old black and white tom with blue eyes**

 **DEPUTY:**

 **MEDICNE CAT: Spidereye- small black tom with intimidating amber/yellow eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Clearpaw**

 _ **ICECLAN**_

 **LEADER: Brownstar- dark brown tom with blue eyes**

 **DEPUTY: Gorsepelt- light gray/brown tom with green eyes**

 **MEDICINE CAT: Frozenheart- pale blue and white she-cat with blue eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Bluesky**

 _ **SUNCLAN**_

 **LEADER: Clearstar- white tom with fiery green eyes**

 **DEPUTY: Hazelfur- light brown tabby she-cat**

 **MEDICINE CAT: Blazefur- old orange tom with blue eyes**

 **APPRENTICE, Squirrelpaw**

 **THATS IT! Thank you guys so much for all the support and I hope you enjoyed reading! I hope I can update soon but I have a lot going on, so it might be a while again… Even if I don't post the chapters as fast as I used to, I promise I will still finish this!**

 **~Marble out**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys :) Here's finally another chapter of Swankit's Destiny! This didn't actually take me too long to write, but I made it a little longer than usual. Also, last chapter I updated the Allegiances, so please feel free to tell me if I missed any cats :P (other than Amberstone and Darkear… stupid me, I forgot the deputy of MistClan lol)**

 **And yes, I noticed that I didn't do Swanfeather's point of view last time. There is a reason for that- this whole chapter will be hers instead :)**

 **~Marble out**

 **Swanfeather's P.O.V.**

"Ugh," I groaned as I rose out of my nest and blinked groggily. "Is it dawn already?" Marblefur glanced at me, amusement in her eyes, and nodded. "It is," she purred. I widened my eyes in exasperation.

Lately, I had been trying to get past all the things that had happened to me. My littermates getting ripped apart by a fox in front of me, the Clan blaming me for it, my adoptive kit getting murdered by her own father…

All that stuff. So far, I had been… slightly successful in that I had been hanging out with Marblefur more often. Amusement was my main approach, but other ideas were great, too. To be honest, I was wondering if Dewstar would ever give me an apprentice. Tanstar pretty much hated me, so I knew he wouldn't.

But Dewstar was new, a young, dare I say stupid leader who would probably give me one if I asked nicely. That's what I decided to do. Maybe one of Amberstone's kits… Speaking of which- she had given birth a few sunrises ago, and I still hadn't seen them yet.

"I'm going to see Amberstone's kits," I told Marblefur, and padded out of the mostly finished warriors' den. Still a few holes here and there, but otherwise it was good. I realized something as I headed over to the nursery: Me and Marblefur are so alike. Sure, I had lost just a little bit more than she had, but I noticed, that, like me, she often zoned out and got this sad, faraway look in her eyes. Just what I was trying to avoid.

"Oh, hello, Swanfeather," Amberstone greeted me from where she lay with her two kits suckling at her belly. I caught the sorrow in her eyes before she could hide it- one of her kits had suffocated right after birth, leaving her with only two instead of three. I peered down at them and purred. "Have you named them yet?" I questioned quietly, still admiring the two bundles of fur.

"Yes," she nodded. "This one-" she pointed with her tail to a brown and white tortoiseshell she-cat- "is Spottedkit. The dark brown tom is Bramblekit." She mewed, gazing at her kits happily. "Did… did you name the other one?" I asked softly, hoping she wouldn't go all sad on me. I just wanted to know, I mean, if that happened to me, I would name all three of them.

She nodded again, slowly. "She was beautiful. Dark brown and white, a perfect mix of me and Branchpelt. Would have made a great warrior… We named her Pinekit." I dipped my head and looked back at the kits one more time, waving my tail in farewell to the queen.

"Oh, and Swanfeather?" Amberstone called after me. I turned around from the entrance. "Yeah?" "I'll see about getting one of these kits as your apprentice," she mewed, and I was sure she could see the happiness and relief on my face. At least I might not have to ask him myself. I blinked at her and exited the nursery, squinting in the sunlight.

"Has any cat seen Pebbletail?" I heard some cat call out. "No, not since last night. She went outside to get some fresh air, but she never came back in," Sami answered, stretching in the sun beside the elders' den.

"Alright. If she isn't found by sun-high, I want cats searching for her. Not yet, though. It is possible she just fell asleep outside of the camp. She is an elder, after all," Dewstar joked, trying to add amusement into the situation.

I wasn't worried about my 'mother'. If I had gone missing, do you think she would be worried for me? I doubt it. The only kin of mine I consider real is my father, Moonwhisker. But now even he was kind of avoiding me- or was I just imagining that? I'm not sure.

I caught Blackfur's eye and carefully padded over to him, watching the cats around me. "I did it," he hissed as I approached. "Now what? What if some cat finds out?" I blinked at him. "Stop panicking. It'll be fine. Just go back to normal, no one will notice," I told him, and headed off to see Foxstep, who was assigning cats to patrols.

"Fallensky, Petalpaw, Duskear, and Swanfeather, you four go hunting by the MistClan border," Foxstep said, and we gathered by the entrance. "Every cat here?" Fallensky checked, and we headed out.

By the time we had reached the MistClan border, shivers were running up my spine. I hated this place. It was like my worst nightmare- memories flooded in, making me squeeze my eyes shut and hope we wouldn't have to be here long.

To my relief, Fallensky went with Petalpaw and left me and Duskear to hunt in the nearby forest. My slightly raised fur flattened as we got farther and farther away from the border. The brown tom studied me as we walked.

"You don't like MistClan, do you? I noticed how you got all tense, and when Fallensky said he was gonna go with Petalpaw, you, like, breathed out and relaxed," he commented. "What's the deal?"

I glared at him for a short second and then debated on telling him or not. Eh, why not? "Okay, so, when I was a kit, me and my sisters, Redkit and Fuzzykit, and our friends, Brackenkit, Branchkit, and Marblekit, snuck out and got caught by a MistClan patrol. We stayed there until late night when I found Redkit and Fuzzykit sneaking out, so I followed them and we were so close to the border when the fox attacked." I knew my eyes got darker as I remembered the encounter with the huge russet furred creature.

"It killed them," I whispered. Duskear looked away. "I'm sorry," he murmured sympathetically. I turned to face him. "That's not the worst part. The whole Clan believed Marblekit when she said she thought it was my idea, and they hated me for so long- MistClan ruined Redkit's, Fuzzykit's, and my own life.

"So yes, I don't like MistClan. Not one, single, bit," by the end I was hissing, my tail lashing. MistClan deserves to suffer, pay for what they had done.

My eyes widened. _Stop,_ I demanded to myself. _Stop getting so angry. They didn't mean for them to die. They didn't know the fox would be there. It's not their fault._ But as I tried to calm myself, I contradicted my own thoughts.

 _But they could have prevented it from happening. If only Badgerstar had believed us. Then Fuzzykit and Redkit would still be here._ I was lost in my mind, thinking thoughts that I had buried deep. _Maybe they would have the warrior names we imagined. Fuzzyheart and Redclaw._ I purred and tried to imagine a world _with_ them, instead of without. Huh. I was pretty sure both of them would have lots of friends, a loving mate, kits, oh, both of them would have had _plenty_ of kits. And then there was me.

The lonely, boring, plain, she-cat named Swanfeather- only one or two friends, no mate, no kits, not even a love interest. To be honest, there was no cat in the Clan that I even liked. I mean, they were all so… bland. Boring, expressionless almost.

Well, to me, they were, at least. "So, uh," Duskear meowed uncertainly beside me, and I realized I had zoned out and had been completely ignoring the fact that we were supposed to be hunting. "Right, ah, hunting," I stammered stupidly, scuffling my paws on the ground.

Duskear let out a _mrrow_ of laughter. "Anyway," he began. "I was going to say that you could go that way and try, and I'll go by the river?" I nodded at his suggestion and padded off the way he had pointed. "Meet back here!" he reminded me as he headed away.

Almost right away I scented a bird. Purring to myself, I quietly stalked along the ground towards it and spotted the little blue creature sitting on a branch. Carefully, I made sure I was downwind of it, and began climbing the tree silently.

It didn't seem to notice, so I sheathed and unsheathed my claws before leaping, kind of like my own secret signature move, because why not? Anyway, I landed squarely on the bird with my paws on either side of it, the branch swaying slightly under my weight but holding it fairly.

 _Nice catch,_ I heard, and spun around to see where it had come from. "Huh?" I mewed out loud, baffled. It sounded like it had been right next to me… While I was busy trying to find out who had mewed that, I, being dumb, lost my balance and _almost_ toppled off of the tree.

The bird flopped awkwardly between my paws. "Ugh," I muttered, carefully leaping down from one of the lower branches and burying the bird lightly underneath the shallow layer of leaves.

 **-~- Time skip -~-**

"How much did you catch? I bet I caught more!" I heard Petalpaw boasting to her sister as we entered the camp. "I didn't go hunting, Petalpaw…" came the small voice of Leafpaw, but her boisterous littermate ignored her.

"I caught two whole squirrels and a mouse!" I snorted. Silly apprentices. _I want one!_ Oh, how much _fun_ it would be to have an apprentice… Speaking of which, I wanted to ask Amberstone if she had talked to Dewstar yet.

If she had, it was likely I was getting an apprentice. I don't like to pick favorites, but if I could choose, I would prefer Bramblekit. "Hey, Amberstone!" I called, and the tortoiseshell she-cat looked over. "Yes?" she answered as I trotted over to her.

"Did you, ah, talk to Dewstar yet?" I asked hopefully. Her eyes brightened. "Yes, I did! He said that was fine as long as I thought you were ready," she paused. "Obviously this is the part where I said you were. And then he said that since he had promised Branchpelt he could train Spottedkit, you could get Bramblekit! This is so exciting," she gushed. "I'll be glad to know my son is in good paws with you, instead of the crazy cats in this Clan." Amberstone laughed at her own joke and suddenly I realized she seemed a lot older than she was.

Well, honestly, Amberstone had always been a little more mature than her littermates, Duskear, Mothfur, and Fallensky. I think it had something to do with the fact that she had a better mentor than the other three, just a bit…

That thought got me thinking about my own former mentor, Nightgaze. The old black tom, that, apparently, I was related to, was old now, just like his brother, Moonwhisker, who was my father.

Anyway, I was positive that pretty much most of the Clan would be moving into the elders' den, since so many of the warriors are so old. And that includes… Nightgaze, Moonwhisker, Sunblaze, Mapleleaf, Skyfur, even Redleaf- must I go on? What I'm trying to get at here is that there's a lot of _older_ warriors, and not enough _younger_ ones. We need more kits, I guess.

Amberstone helped, but still, we need _more_. The Clan could always use more kits, as Tanstar had always said- wait, why am I quoting him?- and I agreed, even though Tanstar had always hated me and I had disliked him.

Too bad I would never be any help in that way. Kits? No, kits were _not_ my thing. No cat could or would change that, as far as I was concerned.

 **Well then. Don't I update fast?! :D Please review if you liked this chapter and I mean, admit it, how FAST I POSTED THIS!? Anyway, please R &R and I hope you enjoyed! Also hopefully next time I do Allegiances (if I even do) I won't be so stupid and miss cats AGAIN! xD (2094+ WORDS! CELEBRATE!)**

 **~Marble out**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys, Marble here FINALLY WITH SWANKIT'S DESTINY! Yay :D I know you have all been waiting for it… So here it is. Finally- yay. This (I'm happy about this and I'm not at the same time) isn't even close to done, so expect a lot more chapters :)**

 **So you know how I said I was gonna make the chapters longer? Well, instead of just 2k+ words per chap, I was hoping to make, like, 3k or 4k words, but that might not happen at all. Possibly. Maybe. IT MIGHT, OKAY?!**

 **Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and support and I hope you like this chapter :)**

 **~Marble out**

 **Swanfeather's P.O.V.**

I slunk out of the entrance and into the forest quietly. When I had reached the border, marking our territory from the deeper forest behind it, I glanced around and leapt across the small stream easily.

"Swanfeather?" I heard a voice and turned to see a dusty brown tom emerging from a bush. "Mouse!" I purred. _I can't possibly be doing this,_ I thought. _This is so wrong! What if Dewstar found out?_ I shook my head. _He won't,_ I told myself firmly.

Mouse rested his tail on my shoulder. "Have you thought about leaving with me, yet?" I looked away. "I'm sorry, Mouse, but you know I can't do that! My home is in the Clan." My eyes lit up and I looked back at him. "Why don't you join SmokeClan? I'm sure everyone would welcome you, and-" he cut me off sadly. "I can't do that, either. The forest is _my_ home; I live alone, not with other cats," Mouse mewed softly.

I sighed. "I know," I replied. We sat, side by side, for a while. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer," I mumbled awkwardly. "But my Clan will be worried." _No, they won't._

 _Shut up!_

"Okay. See you later, _Swan_ ," he teased. I giggled and padded towards our forest. "See you later, _Mouseheart_!" _Aw, how sweet. Why don't you just stay with him? It's not like your Clan, your 'home' would even notice anyways._ I was about to reply when I heard a screech on the other side of the border made me run faster, and I almost tripped and fell into the stream in my rush.

"Amberstone! What happened?" I asked, confused. Her mouth was open in a silent scream, and she wasn't looking at something I couldn't see from where I stood. When I went around her, though, I almost screeched, too. Pebbletail was lying on the forest floor, peacefully stretched out under the shade of a tree.

But that wasn't the problem. It was the fact that her throat had been slashed and ripped out, her legs twisted and her eyes open. Silver jaws were parted to reveal bloody, cracked teeth, and I shuddered.

 _I said I wasn't worried about her, but look at me now,_ I thought. A rush of anger and happiness surged up inside of me at the same time. _She deserves this._

 _No she didn't! She was a cat, and she made mistakes- no cat deserves to die like this!_

I shook my head. "We… we should get her back to camp…" I mewed, swallowing the bile

that rose in my throat. Amberstone moved to grab her hind legs, and she lifted my mother onto my wide, fluffy shoulders, staining them red with her blood.

I shuddered again and started slowly making our way towards camp. "I-I was just taking a walk and I went to sit under that tree and she was right there!" Amberstone explained, her voice rising to a wail.

I nodded silently.

When we had finally reached the camp, cats scented the blood and death, and some bounded out. "Pebbletail!" Moonwhisker wailed, running over and burying his nose in her fur. I stared numbly at him as he refused to let anyone near her, insisting he could bury her himself.

I carefully approached him, jumping when he hissed at me. "Moonwhisker," I began steadily. "She is my mother. I wish to see her." My father's eyes softened and he dipped his head after hesitating for a few heartbeats.

The beating of the rain on the trees seemed to calm him, though he was still extremely upset.

"Moonwhisker?" I asked softly. He glanced up and I continued, "We… we should bury her now…" Sighing, he nodded briefly and I helped him slide her onto his shoulders. My white, fluffy fur had dried from when I had washed away her blood in the river, and I shuddered.

"Over here looks good." My father looked over and shrugged at my suggestion. It was a small hill, a narrow stream running past it. A lone tree stood on the top and I watched his expression change as he realized what it was-

It was Pebbletail's favorite tree. I remember, little details that I shouldn't recall, whenever she was upset, needed to be on her own- "I'm going to my oak tree." Moonwhisker went with her, sometimes, but she usually went alone.

"Right here," he murmured, bending down. I rushed over to help him as he tried to gently lay Pebbletail on the ground. "Okay, I'll start digging," I mewed.

In no time at all I had a small, shallow hole dug, but as I stepped back to admire my work, Moonwhisker scoffed at me. "That's not deep enough! Do you want mice and squirrels to dig up her body and _eat it_?" he snarled, eyes narrowed.

I frowned. "Fine, then." It annoyed me that he wasn't too upset to get mad at me, but he couldn't dig with me. After all, what do I know about _digging holes_? Maybe instead of sitting there and watching me, doing nothing, Moonwhisker, O' Great Digger of Holes, could help me!

I found myself smiling and quickly spun to hide it from Moonwhisker. "Look, can you, oh, I don't know, help me?" I asked sharply as he 'corrected my form' once more.

He stared blankly at me. "I'm grieving. You don't know how it feels to lose the love of your life," he simply mewed, and I exploded. "I lost my mother! Oh, but it doesn't matter, it's not like she ever paid attention to me, anyways! Neither did you, Moonwhisker, my _father_! I could be hunting, or fighting for my Clan, instead of sitting here, being lectured by you, when you aren't even doing anything!"

Moonwhisker blinked slowly. "I talked to Pebbletail after your warrior ceremony. It's not my fault she hated you. She was determined to hurt you as much as she had been hurt when Redkit and Fuzzykit died.

I'm sorry, Swanfeather. I'm sorry you couldn't live a normal, happy life, with your family whole. I'm sorry you couldn't have had a loving mother and father, lots of friends, a mate, and kits. But don't blame her. Pebbletail was extremely upset after her kits died, she wanted to take her anger out on some cat- and that ended up being you. You can still have a happy life, Swanfeather, you can still have a mate, and have kits, and watch them grow up in the Clan." He paused to take a breath.

"It's not too late to be happy." I scowled at him. "You would say that," I muttered under my breath and continued digging reluctantly. After hesitating a few heartbeats, he padded over and began scooping out earth with his paws.

By sun-down, we had a good sized hole dug. Carefully, we both grasped Pebbletail's silver fur, gently setting her down in the hole. Moonwhisker stayed behind after we buried her, but I headed back to the Clan without a word.

 _Are you alright?_ The voice in my head purred, sickeningly sweet sounding. _Yeah, just peachy,_ I growled back. I heard a faint huff, followed by, _I think someone knows about you and Mouse._ Blinking, I halted in the middle of the clearing. _What?_ The voice paused and sighed. _I said, I think someone knows about you and Mouse!_

I noticed Whitecloud and Skyfur staring at me from the fresh-kill pile, and I looked at my paws. They carried me out of the camp, towards the stream where I usually met Mouse. _His scent is all over this place,_ the voice continued. _So is yours! There's no blood, so it's obvious you didn't chase him off._

 _Ugh, I hate it when you're right!_ If the voice could smile, smugly, I'm sure it would. "So-" _Oops. So, what do you want_ me _to do about it?_ Pause. _Stop meeting him, or fake chasing him off next time._

"Swanfeather? What are you doing here?" An excited and surprised gasp met my ears. _UGH!_ "Mouse!" I fake purred, wishing I could be alone with the voice. His eyes gleamed with happiness. "Have you come to join me?" he asked hopefully.

I hated to let him down. "No, Mouse, I can't. My mother was just found dead and my father's mourning, I can't just leave him." The voice snorted, the sound echoing in my ears. "Oh," Mouse mewed, disappointment lacing his words. "Sorry, ah, about your mother…" he added after a heartbeat.

"So, ah, what were you doing out here?" Mouse asked. _I don't have time for this pointless small talk!_ "I don't think I'll be able to meet you for a while!" I blurted, and immediately regretted it.

His expression changed instantly. "What?" I swallowed nervously. "I'm sorry," I mewed honestly, turning and padding away. "Swanfeather?" he called after me. " _Swan_? I love you...!"

I pinned my ears to my head and kept walking. Remembering what the voice said about his scent, I rolled in a patch of flowers and pushed my way into camp. A few pairs of eyes met my sad gaze.

Assuming it was about my mother, they let me be. I can't imagine why I would be sad about that. I thought everyone knew that my mother hated me, and I hated her. Pretty good relationship, yes?

I padded aimlessly around, ending up at the fresh-kill pile, where I plucked a squirrel off and continued walking, this time to the nursery. "How many moons?" I asked as two kits threw themselves at me, making me drop the squirrel.

"One- No, one half!" they both chirped happily. Struggling not to think about Mouse, I imagined Spottedkit as Featherkit and growled playfully at her. "You'll never defeat me, Swanstar, leader of SunClan!"

"I am Spottedstar of SmokeClan! You'll be tasting dirt in a few heartbeats!" Spottedkit hissed, and I let out a discreet _mrrow_ of laughter. Seeing my father wandering around outside, I excused myself from the kits for a moment and padded up to him.

"Swanfeather," he spoke before I could even take another step. Startled that he knew I was there, I halted. "Yes?" Moonwhisker turned around. "Don't blame yourself for your mother hating you." I blinked, surprised. "I…" He went on. "I'm going to get some rest. I think I should retire to the elders' den, soon." Moonwhisker purred. "Blackwing won't be happy with it so crowded."

I dipped my head. "See you tomorrow," I called as he disappeared into the warriors' den, waving his tail in acknowledgement. "Good night, Swanfeather!" Bramblekit and Spottedkit shouted from the nursery. Amberstone shushed them, herding them both back into the den and, assumably, to their nest.

 _Good night, Swanfeather,_ the voice mocked them. _Shut up. I'm not in the mood for you right now._ I replied, frowning as I padded to the warriors' den.

 **:D Did you like? Huh? Did ya? Did ya? I hope you did :P ANYWAYS, I just got the newest Warriors book,** _ **A Vision of Shadows: The Apprentice's Quest**_ **, and I'm excited to read it :P**

 **Okay, so, I hope you liked this chapter, and please leave a review! :)**

 **~Marble out**


	22. AN: sorry :(

**..**

 **So like…**

 **I know that most of you have like**

 **probably abandoned the thought that I may be updating..**

 **and**

 **not very many of my readers will see this, but..**

 **so obviously it's been a very long time (three months and three days) since I have updated this story, and I'm really sorry, but I have kind of lost interest in it..**

 **like, completely…**

 **I'm sorry :( I feel bad.. I promised I would finish this story but I haven't really been active on this site as a whole…**

 **Well, bye… I'll miss you guys but I hope you understand why I'm not finishing this story! :(**

 **~Marble out, for the last time… :(**


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